Oregonians hold signs urging the Salem City Council on Dec. 1, 2025, to approve an emergency declaration in response to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detain a woman in Springfield, Oregon, on Nov.19, 2025.

Since beginning his second term, President Donald Trump has made border security a top priority, pledging to deport 1 million people annually. To reach that goal, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are racing to hire 10,000 agents, offering incentives such as sign-up bonuses and student loan repayment.

But the push lowers the bar for recruits, including reduced training, slower background checks and lower physical abilities.

Whatever your view of the Trump administration’s broader immigration policy, this rush threatens safety on our streets and trust in the badge. ICE should return to basics, ensuring recruits are fully screened before training begins, providing structured mentoring for rookies, requiring basic language skills and hiring officers who reflect America’s communities.

How ICE is lowering hiring standards for immigration agents

Traditionally, ICE recruits deploy after a four-month training course covering immigration and constitutional law, firearms and driving. But these protocols are changing amid a historic deportation surge and scramble to hire officers.

Controversy over the new recruitment approach flared after NBC News reported that some ICE recruits reached the training academy before fingerprinting, drug tests or background checks were completed.

Authorities have also cut academy time for recruits without prior law enforcement experience, from 16 to eight weeks. Among other changes, ICE scrapped a requirement that recruits complete a five-week basic Spanish course, even though at least two-thirds of the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States are from Spanish-speaking countries. Instead, ICE recruits now rely on translation apps, which can introduce delays and confusion during stressful encounters.

Seasoned officers signing up for ICE are permitted to skip the full academy and enter a shortened transition program with more on-the-job training, the Department of Homeland Security told NBC News, though ICE has not said publicly how long that track lasts.

ICE insists its agents are well trained. Still, a former Customs and Border Protection commissioner warns that this training is not suited for city streets, where much of today’s enforcement occurs.

To widen the applicant pool, DHS loosened age limits, allowing ICE candidates as young as 18. But experience matters. Research ties experience and supervision to fewer use-of-force incidents, while younger and less seasoned officers tend to draw more public complaints.

This problem is less about age than about exposure and judgment. Law enforcement is a high-discretion job in which one choice can change lives, and good judgment grows with coaching and time. Two months of training cannot fully prepare anyone for high-stakes, emotionally charged ICE operations ‒ especially now, with protests, fear and confusion engulfing enforcement actions in cities nationwide.

Border Patrol's history in hiring offers a warning

The shift in hiring and training standards comes as agents face growing pressure on the streets. DHS reported roughly 240 assaults on ICE agents from Jan. 21 through Nov. 21, up from about 20 over the same period in 2024.

Citing that increase and the online sharing of agents’ personal information, ICE now defends the use of face coverings, though critics argue that masks hinder accountability.

History offers a warning. In the 2000s, the Border Patrol expanded fast and eased some hiring and training standards. During that time, employee arrests rose for offenses like domestic violence and DUI, averaging about six a week.

With ICE, impacts of the new policy choices don’t just play out at the border; they’re showing up at school doors, bus stops and on sidewalks.

Local law enforcement feels it first. Police departments, already struggling to recruit, now must compete for candidates with federal bonuses, faster hiring timelines and other perks offered by ICE.

Federal prisons are also losing corrections officers to ICE, compounding staffing shortages and safety risks for staff and people in custody.

As ICE raids unfold in many neighborhoods, residents can find it difficult to distinguish federal operations from local ones. And when they see city officers working alongside ICE, trust in local police can drop. At a recent City Council hearing in Washington, DC, residents pressed leaders about this cooperation, and one local neighborhood commissioner asked the question now causing anxiety in many households: “When we call 911, who will respond?”

Trust and legitimacy are cornerstones of police authority ‒ and essential to solving crimes. When that resource is undermined, public compliance, tips and cooperation with law enforcement dry up. That’s true for federal and local agencies alike.

So what needs to change?

First, training for recruits should not commence before basics like fingerprints, drug tests, reference checks and psychological screening are completed.

Second, ICE must expand formal mentoring of young agents after they graduate from the academy and hit the streets. Studies show the trainer paired with a rookie strongly shapes how that rookie uses force later. That’s why scenario-based coaching and careful field training officer selection can matter more for safety than test scores alone.

Finally, when recruiting pitches center on mass deportations and polarizing slogans, accelerated hiring can turn the badge into a political tool ‒ attracting those most energized by that provocative message. As with any other law enforcement agency, ICE should reflect the communities it serves. Leaders should recruit more women, bilingual applicants and candidates of color while prioritizing problem-solving and communication skills.

No matter who is in power and what priorities top the immigration agenda, America deserves competent, humane and constitutional enforcement ‒ both at the border and on our city blocks. The badge is a promise to keep us safe. There should be no shortcuts on the road to earning it.

Thaddeus L. Johnson, a former police officer, is a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice and teaches at Georgia State University. His wife, Natasha N. Johnson, is an assistant professor of educational studies and research at Augusta University.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Almost anyone can be an ICE agent now. That's a problem. | Opinion

Reporting by Thaddeus L. Johnson and Natasha N. Johnson, Opinion contributors / USA TODAY

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