00:00Flashy advertisements, $50,000 signing bonuses, and a fast-track training program.
00:08Joining ICE has never been easier or more lucrative.
00:12They have a president who has their back.
00:14Some Democrats in Congress are concerned the agency isn't getting the best of the best.
00:18You know, there's some cowboys among them.
00:20So are ICE's new standards making the agency better?
00:25ICE is actively recruiting across the country to get new officers hired quickly,
00:29Republicans approved funding in the one big beautiful bill for more overtime, higher salaries, enhanced retirement benefits, and of course the signing bonuses.
00:39Senator Dick Durbin is concerned some ICE hiring tactics are bringing in recruits who are not as well trained.
00:44I'm very concerned that people are jumping in a $50,000 bonus when I take a job in a county in Illinois for $50,000.
00:54You know, the fact is it's an incentive for people to sign up who may not have a good record.
01:00Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem waived age limits.
01:03Previously, new hires had to be between 21 and 40 years old.
01:07ICE also removed requirements to speak Spanish and shorten the training program by five weeks.
01:12Durbin is concerned the lower standards will lead to officer misconduct.
01:16He wrote a letter to Noem asking for recruitment data.
01:19Who are these people that she's hiring who wear the uniforms without any name tag, who wear masks as they go into the neighborhoods of Chicago?
01:26ICE announced that more than 80,000 people applied to join in the first week of the recruitment campaign that began in August.
01:33The agency frequently highlights arrests of those in the country illegally who are either charged or already convicted of crimes.
01:42My understanding is there's been an unprecedented number of people wanting to go to work for ICE.
01:49And there's been actually a restored sense of morale at the Border Patrol and all of our immigration enforcement officials.
01:57They finally know that they have a president who has their back and who will let them do their job, unlike the previous administration.
02:04So the concern is that you're not necessarily getting the best of the best to go after the worst of the worst?
02:09I'm not concerned that somehow they won't be properly trained or incapable of performing their job.
02:15But not all Republicans are on board with the new standards.
02:18Well, I think in a world where we're rightfully trying to increase training requirements and fitness requirements in the DOD,
02:26the last thing we should be doing is going in the opposite direction.
02:29I'm Ray Bogan for Straight Hour News.
02:31For more unbiased reporting straight from our nation's capital, download the SAN app.
Be the first to comment