ICE whistleblower warned of 'unprecedented lowering of standards' during
hiring spree
[September 04, 2026]
By RYAN J. FOLEY
A supervisor overseeing background checks warned last year that
Immigration and Customs Enforcement was hiring many new officers who had
not undergone basic vetting, violating federal rules and putting the
agency at risk of misconduct, a newly released whistleblower complaint
shows.
The official was a unit chief in ICE’s Office of Professional
Responsibility, where background checks were backlogged as ICE added
thousands of new officers to carry out President Donald Trump’s mass
deportation campaign.
ICE’s human resources division was making final job offers before
preliminary vetting steps had been completed, including fingerprints,
identity verification and credit checks, the official's complaint
warned.
“This unprecedented lowering of standards sacrifices proper risk
mitigation for expediency, placing DHS at risk of infiltration and
insider compromise,” the official wrote in a memo to the Department of
Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General dated August 2025.
The New York Times first reported on the whistleblower complaint
Thursday. The Associated Press obtained the complaint and a related memo
from the now-retired ICE official’s lawyer, Kevin Owen. The official's
identity was redacted from the complaint. The Times said the official
was a 17-year-agency employee and longtime Republican who had voted for
Trump in 2020 and 2024.
ICE announced in January that it had hired 12,000 new officers in less
than one year, a spree financed by a $75 billion infusion from Congress
to increase the agency’s arrests and deportations.
The rapid pace of the hiring, fueled by a $50,000 signing bonus, raised
concerns about the quality of the new employees. An investigation by The
Associated Press found that some of the new hires had serious financial
problems in their backgrounds, had been accused of misconduct in prior
jobs, and had checkered employment histories.
In July, Tom Homan, the White House border czar, said ICE would
investigate apparent shortcomings in the vetting of an officer who shot
and killed a 25-year-old motorist in Maine.
The whistleblower complaint said that “systemic breakdowns in vetting”
violated several federal rules and standards designed to ensure
candidates are suitable for sensitive law enforcement and national
security positions.
[to top of second column]
|
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) trainees practice shooting
handguns at the indoor firing range at the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Centers (FLETC) in Brunswick, Ga., Aug. 21, 2025. (AP
Photo/Fran Ruchalski, File)
The complaint said the lack of vetting created “increased
vulnerability to insider threats, infiltration and foreign
influence,” undermined ICE’s law enforcement operations and eroded
public confidence in the agency.
It asked the inspector general to investigate the personnel vetting
failures and for the agency to immediately suspend the improper
practices, hold accountable those responsible for the violations and
to review all recent hires to identify potential “insider threats.”
The Office of Inspector General has previously announced that it is
investigating ICE’s hiring and training process, as well as security
clearances granted to contractors and political appointees.
In a statement, ICE said Thursday the whistleblower was no longer
with the agency.
“The ICE Office of Professional Responsibility diligently applies
the proper personnel vetting regulations, including guidelines for
national security, and evaluates all available information for every
applicant based on these factors,” the statement said.
As the AP previously reported, ICE acknowledged that some applicants
received “tentative selection letters” after their initial
applications and interviews. Some were allowed to begin training
before their background investigations were completed.
The whistleblower is the second insider to call out ICE’s rush to
put more officers on the streets as reckless.
A former agency lawyer and instructor at the ICE academy, Ryan
Schwank, said the agency cut training on the use of force, firearms
safety, and the rights of protesters last year. The Department of
Homeland Security has since increased the amount of training for new
officers.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
