(The Center Square) – More than 150,000 people have applied to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as recruitment efforts continue nationwide, encouraging Americans to join Trump administration federal law enforcement agencies.
“ICE has received more than 150,000 applications from patriotic Americans who want to defend the homeland by removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from the U.S.,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. “We have already issued more than 18,000 tentative job offers. Americans are answering their country’s call to serve and help remove murderers, pedophiles, rapists, terrorists, and gang members from our country.”
ICE is offering a robust package of federal law enforcement incentives to those seeking to join its ranks. These include a maximum $50,000 signing bonus; student loan repayment and forgiveness options; 25% Law Enforcement Availability Pay for HSI Special Agents; overtime for ICE Enforcement Removal Operations deportation officers; and enhanced retirement benefits.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is also “actively seeking dedicated individuals to join its ranks and contribute to safeguarding the nation’s borders, enforcing legitimate trade and travel, and protecting the American people.”
It’s also offering competitive salaries, locality pay, comprehensive health insurance and enhanced retirement benefits, opportunities for overtime and premium pay, and substantial hiring incentives.
Newly appointed Border Patrol agents may qualify for recruitment incentives of up to $30,000; CBP officers may be eligible for incentives equal to 15% or 25% of their salary, depending on duty locations, CBP says. Air and marine interdiction agents assigned to Caribbean locations may also receive a 25% recruitment incentive.
CBP says it’s using several methods to streamline and expedite the hiring process. This includes a direct-hire authority “to rapidly hire highly qualified personnel for specific roles” in order “to make tentative job offers at recruitment events and process applications more efficiently,” it says. This applies to specialized positions like criminal investigators or Air Interdiction Agents, it says.
CBP is also expediting hiring veterans, including disabled veterans; military spouses who relocate “under Permanent Change of Station orders or whose spouse is 100% disabled or died on active duty may be eligible for specific hiring paths;” as well as those with disabilities, recent graduates and student interns through a “pathways” program.
CBP job openings are varied, including trade enforcement, criminal investigations, and a range of administrative, professional, and technical jobs like cybersecurity, intelligence research and others. Interested applicants are encouraged to connect with a recruiter, attend a recruitment event or visit CBP’s careers website.
So far under the Trump administration this year, Border Patrol applications are the highest in recorded U.S. history, The Center Square reported.
Applications to join the Secret Service, Department of Defense, branches of the U.S. military and U.S. Coast Guard have also all surged under the Trump administration, The Center Square reported.