Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is offering young people student loan forgiveness as a means to entice them into considering careers as ICE agents.
Noem is seeking to bolster the ranks of the controversial law enforcement agency to help with President Donald Trump’s mass roundup of illegal immigrants and last week invited applications for U.S. citizens to join.
“Your country is calling you to serve at ICE,” she said in a statement. “Your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country.
“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 recruitment drive has been made possible by Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” which passed Congress in early July and was signed into law by the president on Independence Day. It set aside more than $170 billion in taxpayers’ cash for immigration enforcement over the next decade.
Republicans in Congress earmarked $30 billion of that total for the hiring spree and $45 billion for new detention centers.
Noem appeared on Fox News’s flagship breakfast show Fox and Friends on Wednesday and announced that ICE had already received 80,000 new applications for the 10,000 positions she is seeking to fill and revealed that she had done away with age restrictions to make the opportunity open to younger people.
Previously, applicants had to be aged between 21 and 37 or 40 to be considered, depending on the nature of the role they were hoping to secure.
“We no longer have a cap on how old you can be or you can continue at age 18, sign up for ICE and join us and be a part of it,” Noem told the show.
“We’ll get you trained and ready to be equipped to go out on the streets and help protect families.”
As part of the ICE expansion, the agency is seeking to target “Gen Z and early-career professionals,” as well as ex-law enforcement and military personnel, with an advertising blitz that it hopes will reach 42 million people across platforms like YouTube, X, HBO Max, Amazon Prime and Hulu.
Among the other benefits being offered to encourage Americans to sign up, in addition to student loan forgiveness, is a $50,000 golden handshake, enhanced retirement benefits, and extensive overtime opportunities.
One person who has already snapped up the opportunity is former Superman TV actor Dean Cain, who announced his decision on social media earlier this week and encouraged others to follow his example, stressing that anyone doing so would enjoy the “great benefits” on offer and would not need an undergraduate degree to be considered.
“Since President Trump took office, ICE has arrested hundreds of thousands of criminals including terrorists, rapists, murderers, pedophiles, MS-13 gang members, drug traffickers, you name it – very dangerous people who are no longer on the streets,” Cain told his followers.
“If you want to help save America, ICE is arresting the worst of the worst and removing them from America's streets. I like that. I voted for that.
“They need your help, we need your help, to protect our homeland for families. Join today if it’s something that tickles your fancy because we can use you.”
ICE has faced heavy criticism and some ridicule for its handling of its task in the first 200 days of Trump’s presidency. The agency’s actions inspired tense protests in Los Angeles in June. Still, this week the president’s border czar Tom Homan claimed that 300,000 non-citizens had been deported in that time, and another million had left the United States voluntarily.
Concerns about due process being observed and the conditions in which detainees are being held persist, however.
The pace of ICE’s daily arrest rate also fell by nearly 20 percent in July amid reports of plummeting morale among officers, some of whom have complained they spend more time “arresting gardeners” than pursuing criminals.
