Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s rush to bolster the number of ICE agents on the streets means applicants who can “barely read or write” are being accepted, according to a new report.
With the goal of hiring 10,000 new deportation officers by the end of the year, the Homeland Security Department appears to be cutting corners, according to an investigation by the Daily Mail.
“We have people failing open-book tests and we have folks that can barely read or write English,” one DHS official told the outlet.
DHS has expanded the applicant pool by ending the age limit on ICE agents and is working on getting new hires on the streets faster with a shortened training period of six weeks.
ICE recruits are required to go through medical and drug screening and complete a physical fitness test.
But Daily Mail sources said recruits are being sent to its training academy in Georgia before their drug test results come back positive.
“We even had a 469lb man sent to the academy whose own doctor certified him not at all fit for any physical activity,” the DHS official said.
An NBC News report from October also said that some recruits failed drug tests or had disqualifying criminal backgrounds while already in training.
In one incident reported by the Daily Mail, a recruit asked to be excused from class because he had a court date for a gun charge.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told The Independent, “The vast majority of new officers brought on during the hiring surge are experienced law enforcement officers who have already successfully completed a law enforcement academy.
“This population is expected to account for greater than 85 percent of new hires. Prior-service hires follow streamlined validation but remain subject to medical, fitness, and background requirements.”
McLaughlin said DHS has received more than 175,000 applications from “patriotic Americans.”
The critical coverage of ICE’s hiring process comes as federal agents are under scrutiny for their tactics in the field.
Last month, a federal judge banned immigration authorities from firing tear gas and using other riot weapons during protests in Chicago “unless such force is objectively necessary” to prevent “an immediate threat.”
Authorities in Colorado are investigating an incident from late October in which an immigration agent put a protester in a chokehold, according to Durango Police Chief Brice Current, who spoke with The New York Times.
