The campaign is backed by funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a recruitment drive to hire “brave and heroic Americans” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to tackle illegal immigration, the DHS said in a July 29 statement.
The “Defend the Homeland” recruitment initiative aims to hire individuals as federal law enforcement agents and remove “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from America’s streets,” the statement said.
ICE is offering attractive incentives for new recruits, including signing bonuses of up to $50,000, student loan repayment and forgiveness options, overtime pay, and enhanced retirement benefits.
Recruitment materials will be distributed across major college campuses, law enforcement networks, job fairs, and cities nationwide starting this week, DHS said. ICE encourages Americans with a commitment to upholding the rule of law to apply, it added.
“Your country is calling you to serve at ICE. In the wake of the Biden administration’s failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in the statement.
“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.”
At present, ICE employs more than 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel across more than 400 offices in the United States and globally.
According to DHS, the ICE recruitment drive is backed by “significant new funding” from the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act that was signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4. The OBBB Act has allocated $150 billion to support immigration enforcement.
The act allocated nearly $30 billion to ICE for hiring and training additional personnel, including signing and performance bonuses.
While the Trump administration is strengthening ICE, Democrats are pushing forward measures they say are aimed at ensuring accountability from immigration enforcement agencies.
On July 8, Senate Democrats introduced the VISIBLE Act of 2025, which requires ICE officers, Customs and Border Protection personnel, and others engaged in immigration enforcement to display their name or badge number and the agency they represent during enforcement actions.
