ICE agent explains why they took the job and opens up on 'terrible' training

An ICE agent has taken to Reddit to allow people to ask them questions about their job in light of the criticizm the department is facing following raids across the US.

The recent immigration raids in America were already proving extremely unpopular, but ICE has been hit with further backlash after an officer killed Renee Nicole Good on January 7.

The 37-year-old mother was fatally shot by Jonathan Ross after she tried to drive away from a group of agents carrying out raids in her Minneapolis neighborhood.

With the heat that the department is facing at the moment in mind, an anonymous ICE officer opened the floor to questions on Reddit.

"I’m a current ICE agent working inside Minnesota, been only working as an ICE agent for a year now and seen a lot of things and wanted to share my experience with people that are curious," they penned.

"As it goes please know I don’t represent the whole of ICE I just work there."

ICE agents have been facing a lot of heat of late (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

One person asked how the officer approaches their assignments and what do they assume 'about the people who approach, protest, or perhaps attack you'.

"Personally I just approach it with a calm and sound mind that I’m just doing my job nothing more," the ICE officer said.

"It’s not a personal thing I’m there for my paycheque nothing more," they went on to insist. "If people do physically attack (hasn’t happened yet) and we work in groups, [then that] wouldn’t be a smart thing."

Following the Department of Homeland Security hiring an additional 12,000 officers in the last year, somebody else asked: "How do you cope with the influx of new comers who seem short on training and temper?"

"Terrible," the officer said. "Should be better training in defusing situations and a lot more on the job training with better mentors."

Their remarks come amid a new report finding that an ICE error meant that some new officers were sent into the field without proper training.

The DHS claims that there were 220,000 ICE applicants sent in over the course of 2025.

The agency uses AI to find potential applicants with law enforcement experience to be placed into the 'LEO program', NBC News reports. It requires four weeks of training to join the program, while those without a law enforcement background are said to need eight weeks of training at ICE’s academy at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia.

However, in an apparent AI glitch, 'a bunch of people' without law enforcement backgrounds were sent to the LEO program.

Addressing the matter, a DHS spokesperson told UNILAD: "This technological snag was rectified and did not impact final hirings. No candidate has been placed on enforcement duties without appropriate training and credentials. Only 200 out of the 12,000 hires— or less than 2 percent were affected. Two-thirds of the applicants were not hired. The 200 completed their onboarding with ICE and reported to FLETC for full law enforcement officer training."

They continued: "ICE is hiring the best of the best to get the worst of the worst criminals off America’s streets. Our historic unprecedented nationwide recruitment campaign has shattered expectations, hiring more than 12,000 officers and agents in less than a year.

"The vast majority of new officers brought on during the hiring surge are experienced law enforcement officers who have already successfully completed a law enforcement academy. This population is expected to account for greater than 85 percent of new hires."