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Under President Donald Trump, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has become the driving force of his sweeping crackdown on migrants. With record funding and new enforcement latitude, ICE staff are contending with long hours and growing public outrage over arrests.
Internal pressures are taking a toll. Two current and nine former ICE officials told Reuters that the agency is grappling with burnout and frustration among personnel as agents struggle to keep pace with the administration’s aggressive enforcement agenda.
To address this, ICE has launched a recruitment drive to hire thousands of new officers. However, this process will likely take months or years to play out.
All those interviewed by Reuters backed immigration enforcement in principle but criticized the Trump administration’s push for high daily arrest quotas that have led to the detention of thousands of people with no criminal record, as well as long-term green-card holders and others with legal visas. Some U.S. citizens were also detained.
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Most current and former ICE officials requested anonymity due to concerns about retaliation. Americans have been inundated with images on social media of masked agents in tactical gear handcuffing people in neighborhoods, at worksites, outside schools, churches, courthouses, or in driveways. Videos of some arrests have gone viral, fueling public anger.
ICE arrests of people with no other charges beyond immigration violations rose significantly during Trump’s first six months in office compared to the same period under President Joe Biden last year. Sixty-nine percent of immigration arrests under Trump were of people with a criminal conviction or pending charge.
Tom Homan, former border czar for Trump, acknowledged that long hours and reassignment of specialist agents had frustrated some ICE personnel but said the president’s declaration of a national emergency around illegal immigration warranted it. Morale is expected to improve as more resources are brought on board.
Another stress factor for senior officials is the perpetual threat of being removed for failure to produce arrests. Since Trump took office, multiple changes in leadership at ICE have underscored this pressure.
In response to a request for comment, a senior official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (ICE’s parent agency) downplayed concerns about morale, saying officers were most bothered by being targeted in assaults and criticism from Democrats. The official said ICE personnel “are excited to be able to do their jobs again” after being subjected to limits under Biden.
One former ICE official noted that several colleagues initially welcomed the relaxation of restrictions but now find the administration’s demands unrealistic and unsafe. They prefer focused targeting over mass arrests, particularly of those without criminal records.
The Trump administration has launched a vigorous recruitment drive using a media blitz on social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube to meet its goal of hiring 10,000 new ICE officers over the next four years. The Department of Homeland Security reported that more than 115,000 “patriotic Americans” had applied for jobs with ICE.
The large-scale hiring spree resembles a similar surge in Border Patrol agents during the mid-2000s, which opponents argue increased corruption and misconduct within its ranks. Tom Homan stated that quality should be prioritized over quantity, emphasizing background investigations and vetting processes.
