ICE officers say internal chaos has led to thousands of employee departures

In the first half of 2026, thousands of ICE employees left, and the bulk of those departures were due to resignations and terminations, not retirements, according to federal data reviewed by USA Today.Employees conveyed to the Washington Examiner that many hired prior to Trump’s second term were leaving or fired because of how poorly the agency was being run, including due to the shortfalls in training and vetting given to new officers before recruits are put on the street. A revolving door The Republican-controlled Congress funded ICE with $75 billion in July 2025, fueling the agency’s hiring spree to bring on 10,000 new deportation officers.ICE reported receiving 220,000 applications after it offered college loan payoff and $50,000 sign-on bonuses. It hired 12,000 officers between January 2025 and June 2026 to focus on Trump’s mass deportation campaign over the past 15 months, according to a USA Today analysis of government data. The 12,000 new officers were in addition to 7,500 existing officers.Between January and June, more than 2,900 officers left the agency, more than during any 12-month period since 2012, the first year that the White House Office of Personnel Management began to track this data point.Terminations so far in 2026 are higher than the entire decade leading up to Trump’s second term, the report stated.One tenured ICE officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity said terminations of officers hired under Trump were the result of those officers making poor decisions on the job or retroactively failing a federal background check.“It’s like almost every week people are being fired due to failed backgrounds,” the officer said about turnover in his region.A retired official who speaks with current ICE leadership regularly said he had heard the same from several field office directors.“Some backgrounds take 3-6 months, so the person could have graduated and be working at a field office before their full clearance gets granted or denied,” the retired official said in a text message.The Department of Homeland Security has maintained it is hiring qualified candidates and putting them through thorough training and vetting.“ICE has maintained its exemplary standards, and is hiring the best of the best to get the worst of the worst criminals off of America’s streets. Many of ICE’s new recruits are former law enforcement officers, military, or former ICE officers who retired or quit under President Biden because they were frustrated about not being able to do their jobs,” a DHS spokesperson wrote in an email. “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.”Arsenal PAC, a political action committee stood up by political organizer and former intelligence analyst Samantha Boucher, noted that something was clearly wrong given the surge in new employee terminations.Compared to 2024, “terminations have gone from [making up] under 1% of separations to 18%, and the officers being fired lasted a median of under four months,” Arsenal PAC wrote in a press release. “A department hiring the best of the best would not be firing them this fast.”Challenges ICE employees face Operating under the second Trump administration has not been easy, according to ICE employees. Employees have been sent across the country to work, dispatched to weigh stations, and assigned to airport security checkpoints. Federal immigration authorities from non-ICE agencies have been brought in to assist, creating more confusion. The feeling among some ICE personnel is that their best is not enough.The White House has twice imposed daily illegal immigrant arrest quotas. The latest daily quota was 3,000. DHS has wavered between prioritizing all illegal immigrants for arrest and focusing on the “worst of the worst” who have a criminal history, further sending ICE mixed messaging on how to operate.“The admin has been hot and cold about whom to arrest. It’s been a seesaw this whole year,” the first officer said.The agency has operated without a confirmed director since the end of the Obama administration, and its recent nominee was pulled suddenly in late September.ICE officers have had bounties placed on their heads and expressed concern about being targeted in the streets by activists, as well as in their own facilities following several shootings aimed at federal police.Since last June, ICE and Customs and Border Protection have sent large teams into Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago, Charlotte, Memphis, and Minneapolis, and they continue to carry out deportations with far less publicity under Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin than his predecessor, Kristi Noem.The surges of personnel into communities to find individuals who have been arrested and released by local law enforcement has triggered activism against ICE not previously seen to this extent.FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ICE FROM ARRESTS AT NEW YORK COURTHOUSESAn online ICE Activity Tracker website claims to be the “most reliable way to track ICE activity near you.” Users can report notes and pictures of ICE vehicles, road checkpoints, and people detained by police, as well as the location and time.Sources additionally say that officers have burnt out while working overtime month after month — all on top of functioning in an already tense and dangerous environment.