Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is in the midst of an unprecedented expansion, fueled by a massive $75 billion funding boost from the Trump administration. The aim? To double the number of active ICE agents to 10,000 by early 2026, a cornerstone of President Trump’s aggressive mass deportation agenda. Yet, as the agency races to hire and train thousands of new officers, a surprising obstacle has emerged: a significant portion of recruits are failing even the most basic fitness and academic standards, raising concerns about the quality and oversight of the new force.
According to The Atlantic, ICE’s recruitment push has been met with overwhelming interest—over 150,000 applications have poured in during 2025 alone. The agency, eager to meet ambitious targets, has dangled lucrative incentives: $50,000 signing bonuses and student loan forgiveness. But despite these perks, about a third of recruits at ICE’s academy have stumbled at the first hurdle—a physical fitness test requiring just 15 push-ups, 32 sit-ups, and a 1.5-mile run in under 14 minutes. As one career ICE official bluntly told The Atlantic, “It’s pathetic,” describing the requirements as “the minimum for any officer.”
This failure rate has not gone unnoticed in the public eye. On October 23, 2025, late-night host Stephen Colbert lampooned the situation on CBS, highlighting President Trump’s push for more ICE raids and the agency’s struggle to field fit agents. Colbert, with his signature wit, laid out the test’s demands and offered a tongue-in-cheek tip to immigrants: “Well, there’s a hot tip for immigrants! Learn to run 1.6 miles...” His joke underscored a deeper anxiety about the effectiveness and readiness of the rapidly expanding force.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, has sought to downplay the issue. Officials claim that the recruits failing fitness tests represent only a small slice of the larger hiring pool. In fact, they say 85% of new deportation officer positions are expected to be filled by experienced law enforcement personnel, who are funneled through a separate, fast-track process. As Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told NBC News, “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.”
Still, the rapid expansion has exposed cracks in the agency’s vetting process. NBC News reports that since the summer 2025 hiring surge—spurred by an even larger $178 billion funding approval—ICE has dismissed more than 200 new recruits while they were in training. The reasons? Many failed to meet physical and academic standards, including open-book legal exams on the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Fourth Amendment. Others were dismissed after failing drug tests, background checks, or medical screenings. In a particularly troubling case, one recruit at the Brunswick, Georgia, training academy was found to have prior charges for strong-arm robbery and domestic violence battery. Several others had entered training without even submitting fingerprints or completing background checks, according to officials cited by NBC News.
To accelerate recruitment, DHS has slashed requirements across the board. Age limits have been dropped, allowing applicants as young as 18 and as old as 40-plus to apply. The training period at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia has been shortened from 13 weeks to just six. Language requirements, such as Spanish proficiency, have been eliminated. The physical fitness test—already modest by law enforcement standards—remains a stumbling block for many. And yet, the administration is pushing for more: the White House has set an internal goal of 3,000 immigration arrests per day, according to The Atlantic.
Critics warn that this breakneck pace, coupled with loosened standards, could be a recipe for disaster. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois has been especially vocal. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem dated October 21, 2025, Durbin wrote, “The loosening of hiring standards and training requirements is unacceptable and will likely result in increased officer misconduct—similar to or worse than what occurred during a small surge in hiring U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in the early 2000s.” He went further, warning, “Exacerbating our concerns, DHS has gutted offices responsible for overseeing ICE officers and ensuring accountability for use-of-force incidents. Given these developments, greater congressional oversight of ICE’s hiring is essential.”
The federal government’s struggle to find physically fit law enforcement recruits is not new. Military branches like the Army and Navy have long failed to meet recruiting goals, often citing a shrinking pool of eligible candidates. A Pentagon study found that more than three-quarters of Americans aged 17 to 24 are ineligible for service—due to obesity, inability to pass aptitude tests, health issues, or criminal records. Some branches have responded by relaxing certain rules or offering supplementary fitness programs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has been outspoken about restoring a “warrior ethos” to the Pentagon, recently required that those in combat roles meet the “highest male standard only” for fitness tests. In September 2025, Hegseth criticized “fat generals and admirals,” declaring, “It’s a bad look.” He even celebrated the removal of overweight Texas National Guard soldiers from a crackdown operation in Chicago, saying, “Standards are back at the Department of War.”
Amid all this, ICE’s hiring spree has become a lightning rod for both political and public scrutiny. Supporters of the administration argue that aggressive hiring is necessary to enforce immigration laws and restore order at the nation’s borders. They point to the need for a robust, well-funded agency to execute the president’s mandate. Detractors, meanwhile, warn that lowering standards and cutting corners not only undermines the agency’s credibility, but also increases the risk of abuse, misconduct, and legal liability—especially as ICE faces ongoing allegations of excessive force and mistreatment of detainees.
As the agency continues its recruitment drive, the stakes remain high. ICE’s ability to balance the urgent demands of enforcement with the need for thorough vetting and training will shape not only its own future, but also the broader national debate over immigration and law enforcement standards. For now, the agency’s struggles with fitness tests—and the public mockery they’ve inspired—serve as a stark reminder that building a bigger force is not always the same as building a better one.
