Featured Image Credit: Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Immigration, US News
Callum Jones
Topics: Donald Trump, Immigration, US News
Donald Trump's plan to double the size of the United States' Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) force has reportedly hit a stumbling block.
Over the past few months, ICE has been making itself known following Trump's admission into office at the start of the year.
Before the 2024 election and now in the White House, the POTUS has put a heavy emphasis on lowering immigration numbers during his second term, and one way he is doing this is by deploying ICE officers.
The use of ICE hasn't been without controversy, as numerous protests have taken place across the US against them, with protesters in New York taking to the streets today (October 22), to show their opposition to a recent raid in Chinatown by ICE regarding the alleged sale of 'counterfeit goods', The Guardian reports.
Advert
According to the BBC, however, the force is looking to recruit 10,000 new employees, which would see its current headcount double.
But a report by The Atlantic suggests that they are struggling to meet that demand, as there's been an issue with the potential recruits.
Four officials told the outlet how more than a third of potential recruits have failed ICE's personal-fitness test, which involves doing 15 push-ups, 32 sit-ups, and running 1.5 miles in 14 minutes.
I mean, that sounds pretty ambitious, but one career ICE official has said it is 'pathetic', claiming that previously more demanding requirements to qualify saw just a couple in a class of 40 fail.
He then went on to tell the outlet that standards have already been lowered in a bid to increase the number of ICE officers, as the new expectations 'should be the minimum for any officer'.
However, it has left him and other officials worried as they try to achieve Trump's goal in the New Year.
On October 5, an email from ICE headquarters to their top officers reportedly complained that 'a considerable amount of athletically allergic candidates' had been attending the academy, and that they 'misrepresented' their physical prowess on their applications.
It then asked the field office's leaders to conduct preliminary fitness exams with possible candidates before handing them over to the academy.
The Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, told The Atlantic in a statement that one-third of the failure rate only reflected 'a subset of candidates in initial basic academy classes', and that she expected experienced law enforcement officers who could be fast-tracked to fill up 85 per cent of the places required at ICE.
While these officers will not be required to take the brutal fitness test, they will 'remain subject to medical, fitness, and background requirements', McLaughlin added.
The department has been allocated $165 billion thanks to Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill', which included extending big tax cuts benefiting higher earners, cutting taxes on tips and overtime, mass deportation, slashing Medicaid and food stamps, cutting green energy funding, and much more.
Some of the Department of Homeland Security's positions are going into ICE, with recruits landing a $50,000 signing bonus and a $60,000 student loan debt get-out-of-jail-free card.
Recruits will also be offered a chunky overtime package, on top of 'enhanced retirement benefits'.
UNILAD has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for further comment.