At Least 19 ICE Recruits Hired Despite Red Flags, Washington Post Finds

At least 19 officers hired by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement since January 2025 had records of misconduct allegations, criminal charges or forced departures from earlier jobs, according to a Washington Post investigation. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that its review covered about 300 of roughly 1,500 ICE officers and agents hired since January 2025 whose names appeared in a Department of Homeland Security employee database hacked by activists in late October.

The newspaper said it verified the database with current and former DHS officials before matching names against public records, raising fresh questions about vetting during the largest hiring expansion in the agency’s history.

What the review found

At least five cases involved use of force, including a former police officer who fatally shot a fleeing 19-year-old in 2021; his city settled with the teenager’s family for $2.5 million in 2024, and he was hired as a deportation officer in Detroit in 2025. Five officers were named in lawsuits that ended in settlements.

At least six had been fired, had professional certifications revoked, or resigned while facing possible dismissal, including an Illinois officer who resigned in 2023 after discipline for excessive force and falsified reports. One former New York police detective had pleaded guilty to petty larceny over about $2,900 of champagne taken at a music festival.

Three outside experts reviewed anonymised summaries of the cases for the Post and agreed most warranted closer scrutiny. “This is a pretty bad list of conduct,” said John Roth, a former DHS inspector general.

Temporary status while checks were pending

DHS declined to confirm the identities of the officers, but told the Post that ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility “diligently applies the proper personnel vetting regulations”. The department would not say how many of the 19 still work there; two told the Post they no longer do.

The department also told the Post that officers are sometimes granted “temporary status” while a full background check is pending, meaning some recruits may have made arrests before their vetting was complete.

A 12,000-officer hiring surge

The findings land in the middle of the biggest expansion in ICE’s history. DHS announced on 3 January that a recruitment campaign had brought in 12,000 officers and agents, a 120 per cent increase in manpower, with signing bonuses of up to $50,000 for top recruits. The drive followed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed on 4 July, which set aside billions to roughly double the officer workforce.

The figures need care: 19 of about 300 is roughly 6 per cent, but the sample was not fully random, as some were chosen because an AI screening tool had flagged them, so the share should not be stretched across the whole workforce.

Earlier warnings

The new report is not the first warning. Reuters reported in February that ICE was struggling to vet recruits, and two recruits were flagged as suspected MS-13 members only after they had been hired. An Associated Press investigation in April found some new hires had questionable credentials. In September, the New York Times reported a whistleblower complaint alleging ICE routinely extended final job offers before candidates had completed fingerprint, identity or credit checks.

The findings come as the courts test the enforcement drive: a deportation flight was cancelled on an Arizona tarmac after a judge intervened, and the Supreme Court has cleared border wall construction in the Big Bend sector. The hiring debate also sits alongside a wider reshaping of US immigration policy, from workplace rules to visa and green card sponsorship.

Oversight pressure grows

Democrats, who gain new oversight leverage after last week’s midterms, plan to widen investigations of fatal ICE shootings. In October, Senators Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal and Alex Padilla wrote to the homeland security secretary demanding that officers hired during the 2025 surge be removed from field duty and re-vetted. Their letter also warned of a second hiring surge of 5,000 employees before the end of the year.

DHS has said deportations will continue after the midterms. The question now is not only who the agency hired, but how many of those officers are still carrying a badge while their backgrounds remain under review.

How did the Washington Post identify the officers?

The newspaper ran public-records searches on about 300 of roughly 1,500 ICE officers and agents hired since January 2025 whose names appeared in a DHS employee database hacked by activists in late October.

How many ICE officers were hired in the surge?

DHS said on 3 January that the campaign had brought in 12,000 officers and agents, a 120 per cent increase in manpower, with signing bonuses of up to $50,000 for top recruits.

Were the officers’ backgrounds checked at all?

DHS says ICE’s vetting rules are properly applied, but the department told the Post that officers are sometimes granted “temporary status” while a full background check is pending.