Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has found itself at the center of an escalating controversy, as new data reveals the agency has dramatically increased its spending on weapons and launched an unprecedented hiring surge—all while critics raise alarms about rushed vetting, aggressive tactics, and the human toll of its operations.
According to Popular Information, ICE spent over $71 million on small arms, ordnance, and related accessories between January 20 and October 18, 2025. That figure represents a staggering 700 percent jump compared to the $9.7 million spent during the same period in 2024, under President Joe Biden. For context, the agency’s annual average during President Donald Trump’s first term (2017–2021) was just $8.4 million. The spending spree covers a wide range of items, from armor, explosives, and chemical weapons to pistols, rifles, artillery, and specialized mounts.
Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, responding to reports that some of the spending included "guided missile warheads and explosive components," told The Independent that such claims were "false." She insisted, "ICE buying its law enforcement officers guns and non-lethal resources is a non-story. It should come as no surprise that we purchase and acquire firearms for law enforcement—especially amid the increased onboarding of 11,000 agents thanks to President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill." McLaughlin also urged the press to focus on what she described as a "1,000 percent increase in assaults against law enforcement," citing incidents involving terrorist attacks, vehicles used as weapons, and officers facing rocks and Molotov cocktails.
The influx of funding and weaponry is just one side of the story. ICE’s rapid expansion is fueled by President Trump’s pledge to carry out the "largest mass deportation program in history." The agency now estimates it has around 20,000 active agents, with more than 175,000 applications received and over 18,000 tentative job offers issued as of October 2025, according to McLaughlin. This hiring blitz has been supported by a high-profile ad campaign across platforms like Spotify, X, Meta, YouTube, and LinkedIn. And, as McLaughlin pointed out, incentive processing—including signing bonuses—has continued even during the ongoing government shutdown, which she blamed on Democrats.
The push to expand ICE’s ranks has not come without complications. NBC News reports that, in the rush to meet the White House’s goal of 10,000 new agents by year’s end, the agency has placed recruits into training before completing full vetting, including drug tests, background checks, and fingerprinting. This unusual sequence has led to troubling discoveries: some recruits have failed drug tests or have disqualifying criminal backgrounds, including charges of strong-arm robbery and battery. Others simply didn’t meet the physical or academic requirements to serve.
Staff at ICE’s training academy in Brunswick, Georgia, recently found that some recruits hadn’t even submitted fingerprints for background checks before starting the six-week course—a process that, per ICE policy, should have been completed beforehand. "There is absolutely concern that some people are slipping through the cracks," a current Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official told NBC News. The official wondered aloud, "What about the ones who don’t admit it?"
Since the hiring surge began this summer, more than 200 new recruits have been dismissed during training for failing to meet physical, academic, or background requirements, according to internal ICE data reviewed by NBC News. The majority failed the agency’s physical or academic standards, while just under ten were dismissed for criminal charges, failed drug tests, or safety concerns that should have been flagged earlier. Nearly half of new recruits in the past three months couldn’t pass the written exam on immigration law and constitutional rights—even though officers are allowed to consult their notes and textbooks. A slightly smaller group failed the physical fitness test or had medical challenges; some had made it clear on their applications that they couldn’t meet ICE’s physical requirements but were sent to training anyway.
The training itself has been shortened repeatedly to speed up onboarding. What was once a 13-week course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia has been cut to just six weeks. Recruits are expected to pass a physical fitness test involving sit-ups, pull-ups, and running a mile and a half in under 14 minutes and 25 seconds. Darius Reeves, former ICE field office director in Baltimore, told NBC News that the agency’s August 6 decision to waive age limits has contributed to more recruits failing the physical test. "These new recruits are dropping like flies," Reeves said, adding, "And rightly so; it makes sense. We’re going to drop the age requirements, of course this was going to happen."
ICE’s human resources office, overwhelmed with more than 150,000 applicants since the introduction of $50,000 signing bonuses in August, has been under intense pressure to clear recruits quickly. One former DHS official likened the situation to "asking them to pull a rabbit out of a hat." DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin countered that most new hires are experienced law enforcement officers who have already completed a law enforcement academy, stating, "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% of new hires. Prior-service hires follow streamlined validation but remain subject to medical, fitness, and background requirements."
But the consequences of this breakneck expansion are being felt on the ground. As of the end of September 2025, ICE detention centers held 59,762 people. In June, ICE operations in downtown Los Angeles triggered mass protests, prompting President Trump to activate the National Guard—against the wishes of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who warned it would only escalate tensions. ICE’s methods have come under increasing scrutiny, especially after revelations that at least 20 American citizen children, including two with cancer, were arrested in 2025. Reports of agents traumatizing mothers and children during demonstrations, and even firing pepper balls at a priest, have further fueled public outrage.
Ed Yohnka of ACLU Illinois, speaking to NPR, summed up the concerns: "What we’re seeing is a general escalation of violence and the use of excessive force by ICE officers." Yohnka has filed a lawsuit on behalf of protesters, alleging that ICE’s tactics have violated constitutional rights through "the dangerous and indiscriminate use of near-lethal weapons such as tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper-balls, flash grenades, and other unwarranted and disproportionate tactics."
Despite the agency’s claims of necessity and the urgency of its mission, the mounting evidence of rushed hiring, insufficient vetting, and aggressive enforcement tactics has left many questioning whether ICE’s rapid expansion is coming at too high a cost—for both its agents and those caught in its crosshairs.
