ICE is getting bigger.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is preparing to hire 5,000 additional employees by the end of the year, according to reporting sourced to people familiar with the plans — the agency's latest expansion under President Trump's deportation campaign.
The surge would grow ICE's workforce by about 17%. The agency had roughly 29,000 employees in July, already an increase of around 8,000 since Trump took office. Most of the new recruits are expected to be deportation officers — the personnel who make arrests, manage cases, and carry out removals.
The hiring draws on more than $100 billion in congressional funding for immigration enforcement, including around $30 billion for ICE operations that covers the hiring and training of up to 10,000 new federal officers. The Department of Homeland Security says the new positions come from that funding and are separate from replacing employees who left.
And attrition is real. More than 3,000 employees left ICE in the first half of 2026 through firings, resignations, and retirements, while officers have reportedly been under pressure to work seven-day weeks as arrest numbers climbed.
Demand for the jobs remains enormous — ICE has reported more than 220,000 applications in recent recruitment drives. The agency says it plans to apply stricter vetting standards this time, after earlier rapid hiring waves saw hundreds of new hires removed.