As Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues its nationwide recruitment campaign, it is lowering certain hiring standards to get new officers on board quickly. That’s concerning Democratic senators, who are now asking Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for data on exactly who the agency is hiring.
“Who are these people that she’s hiring, who wear the uniforms without any name tag, who wear masks as they go into the neighborhoods of Chicago?” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said to Straight Arrow News. “There’s some cowboys among them.”
Durbin is asking Noem for recruitment data, including changes to hiring and training requirements, target demographics for recruitment campaigns and information on background checks.
In August, Noem announced she is waiving age limits to join ICE. Previously, new hires had to be between 21 and 40 years old. Durbin said he is also concerned about other changes, like shortening the training program by five weeks and removing the Spanish language requirement.
ICE is offering incentives, including $50,000 signing bonuses, student loan payment assistance, higher pay, extra overtime and enhanced retirement benefits.
Durbin sees that as a draw for people who may not be as well qualified.
“I’m very concerned that people are jumping at a $50,000 bonus. Would I take a job in a county in Illinois for $50,000?” Durbin said. “It’s an incentive for people to sign up who may not have a good record.”
ICE said it is searching for patriotic Americans, “to arrest murderers, pedophiles, gang members, rapists, and other criminal illegal aliens from America’s streets.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told SAN he is not concerned that officers won’t be properly trained or incapable of doing their duties.
“My understanding is there’s been an unprecedented number of people wanting to go to work for ICE, and there’s been actually a restored sense of morale at the border patrol and all of our immigration enforcement officials,” Cornyn said. “They finally know that they have a president who has their back and who will let them do their job, unlike the previous administration.”
ICE announced that more than 80,000 people applied to join in the first week of the recruitment campaign that began in August. The agency frequently highlights arrests of those in the country illegally who are either charged or already convicted of crimes.
ICE announced in September that 2 million people had been removed from the country since the Trump administration began. That includes 400,000 deportations and 1.6 million voluntary self-deportations.
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