Vetting Gaps Emerge in ICE's Rapid 12,000-Officer Hiring Surge

An investigation by the Associated Press has revealed significant vetting failures in Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) rapid expansion of its personnel. The agency added approximately 12,000 new officers and agents to double its force, but records show some new hires possess backgrounds involving bankruptcies, misconduct allegations, and incomplete background checks. These gaps appear to be a byproduct of an aggressive push to staff President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign.

The Details

The hiring surge was fueled by a $75 billion funding infusion through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, resulting in a 120% increase in the agency's force from 10,000 to 22,000 personnel. However, the speed of the recruitment process has led to critical lapses. The AP found that some employees began working on a temporary status before their full background checks were completed, a practice the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acknowledged through its use of 'tentative selection letters.'\n\nSpecific cases highlight the severity of these lapses. Carmine Gurliacci, a new hire in Atlanta, reportedly had two bankruptcies and had cycled through six different Georgia law enforcement agencies in just three years. Similarly, Andrew Penland joined ICE after resigning as a Kansas sheriff's deputy following a lawsuit alleging he arrested a woman on false charges—a case that ended in a $75,000 settlement. June Bench, the woman involved in the Penland case, described the hiring as 'scary' and an example of power abuse.\n\nInternal documents further suggest the agency was aware of potential issues. A February 2026 memo instructed supervisors to refer any 'derogatory information' about new hires, including prior forced resignations, to the Internal Affairs Unit (IIU) for investigation. In some instances, the failures were caught late; NBC News reported that more than 200 recruits were dismissed since the surge began, including two individuals flagged as suspected MS-13 gang members and five others with active arrest warrants.\n\nTo attract candidates, ICE utilized TV ads and offered signing bonuses of up to $50,000, while removing the requirement for a college degree. This approach targeted financially strained individuals, which may have contributed to the high number of candidates with financial instabilities.\n\nDespite these findings, DHS spokesperson Lauren Bis has denied that the agency is struggling with background checks. Bis asserted that all new hires undergo 'extensive background checks and continuous vetting,' describing the internal memo as a resource reminder rather than an admission of systemic failure.

Context

The rapid expansion of ICE follows a directive from the White House to meet aggressive hiring goals by the end of 2025. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller reportedly pushed for these targets during conference calls to ensure the administration's deportation agenda had sufficient manpower. This effort is part of a broader shift in immigration enforcement strategy authorized by the 2025 funding spike.\n\nCritics and former officials have warned that haste in recruitment creates liability. Claire Trickler-McNulty, who served in ICE under three different administrations, noted that rushed vetting increases the risk of abuse of power and operational failure. Similarly, Senator Dick Durbin cautioned that this push mirrors a Border Patrol hiring spree from the 2000s that was subsequently marred by a rise in officer misconduct.\n\nThere is also a discrepancy in the reported numbers of new hires. While DHS claims 12,000 new recruits, federal workforce databases show a net increase of only about 6,200 employees. DHS attributes this gap to reporting lags in federal systems, though it suggests the net growth is lower than the gross hiring figures publicized by the agency.

What's Next

The agency now faces increasing scrutiny over its training and qualification standards. Ryan Schwank, a former attorney who managed training for new officers, resigned in February 2026, testifying that the current training program is 'deficient, defective and broken.'\n\nAs the mass deportation campaign accelerates, the impact of these vetting gaps may manifest in increased legal challenges and civil rights litigation. The tension between the administration's desire for speed and the necessity of rigorous vetting remains a central conflict as ICE continues to integrate thousands of new officers into its field operations.