US offers $50K signing bonus as incentive to ICE deportation officer new hires

In a bid to ramp up hiring, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is offering signing bonuses of up to $50,000 (£37,700) and student loan help to “brave and heroic” Americans keen to help the Trump administration’s deportation drive. The agency is aiming to recruit deportation officers, along with attorneys, criminal investigators, student visa adjudicators, and other roles. ICE plans to add 10,000 personnel, doubling the agency’s headcount as it ramps up deportations across the country.

ICE has launched a recruitment campaign as the government plans a major expansion of immigration enforcement after a recent infusion of money from Congress and is promising up to $50,000 in signing bonuses.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement campaign recalls recruiting posters from World War II with images of Uncle Sam and the words “AMERICA NEEDS YOU.” There also are photos of Trump and top homeland security officials with the words “DEFEND THE HOMELAND” across the images.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a release, “Your country is calling you to serve at ICE. This is a defining moment in our nation’s history. Your skills, your experience, and your courage have never been more essential. Together, we must defend the homeland.”

The funding for the recruitment drive comes from approximately $165 billion allocated for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill.

In addition to the signing bonus and student loan repayment and forgiveness of up to $60,000, ICE is promising hefty overtime pay for deportation officers and “enhanced retirement benefits”.

Deportation officers are tasked with helping apprehend and process undocumented migrants for removal from the US and get salaries between $49,739 and $89,528 per year, depending on experience and education.

ICE currently has 20,000 officers and support personnel at 400 offices across the country.

President Trump’s ‘One, Big, Beautiful’ tax and spending bill includes more than $76 billion allocated to ICE—almost 10 times of what it had been receiving previously.

Trump, Noem and other officials have vowed to ramp deportations to one million per year.

Approximately 150,000 people have been deported in the first six months of the Trump administration, as per data accessed by CBS.

At this pace, ICE will be able to carry out around 300,000 deportations in Trump’s first year in office, well below the goal.

ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan is actively targeting local departments with existing 287 (g) contracts with the federal government that allow local officers to cooperate with immigration enforcement efforts.

In an email, Sheahan asks local law enforcement officers to consider joining ICE “during a critical time for our nation.”

“This is more than a job; it’s a continuation of your service to our country and an opportunity to work alongside dedicated professionals on the front lines of national security,” reads the email sent from an ICE email address with the name “Join the Mission,” and it also promises $10,000 for a new hire reaching their fifth anniversary. A minimum of five years is required to receive the incentives, the email said.