ICE Rushed To Hire 12,000 Agents for Immigration Crackdown, Now Some Face Layoffs Over Background Checks

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has fired some recent hires after concerns emerged about their backgrounds, following a rapid expansion that brought around 12,000 new officers into the agency in less than a year, according to The Washington Post.

The dismissals come as separate whistleblower and Associated Press reporting has raised questions about how quickly some recruits were vetted during the hiring drive.

A former ICE official warned that candidates were being cleared to begin training before preliminary background checks had been completed, describing what they alleged was an 'unprecedented lowering of standards'.

The issue has taken on a human dimension in the case of Joseph Moore, a 38-year-old former Marine reservist and father of two.

Moore was informed he would be fired after ICE raised questions about his previous employment record. He later died by suicide outside an ICE office in Philadelphia, according to police and the medical examiner. His family has disputed aspects of the official account of his final moments.

ICE Expansion Put Pressure on Background Checks

The hiring push was part of a much bigger effort to increase the agency's enforcement capacity. Congress approved $75 billion (£56.25 billion) in additional funding, while ICE sought to expand its workforce from roughly 10,000 to 22,000 officers and special agents.

The agency announced in January that it had hired 12,000 new officers in less than a year. It also offered signing bonuses of up to $50,000 (£37,500) in an effort to attract recruits.

The speed of that expansion had already prompted concern within ICE.

In August 2025, a supervisor in the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility warned the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general that human resources staff were making final job offers before preliminary vetting had been completed, according to a whistleblower complaint obtained by the Associated Press.

The complaint alleged that some candidates had been allowed to begin training before fingerprint, identity and credit checks were finished. It described the process as an 'unprecedented lowering of standards' and warned that the breakdowns could leave ICE more vulnerable to insider threats, infiltration and foreign influence.

The complaint also alleged that the practices violated federal rules and standards. Those are allegations contained in the whistleblower's complaint, rather than established findings that ICE broke federal law.

The expansion nevertheless continued. According to the reporting, the agency shortened parts of its training programme, while some recruits with previous law enforcement experience were allowed to bypass portions of academy training.

Former officers also described an onboarding process that in some cases relied heavily on email and online courses rather than in-person interviews. One former employee said the number of new recruits arriving at their office jumped from one or two at a time to as many as 60, creating shortages of desks and workspace.

Firings Bring Fresh Scrutiny to Agency

Moore's case has become one of the most closely examined examples of the consequences of the accelerated hiring process.

Before joining ICE in 2025, Moore had worked for police departments in Pennsylvania and as a criminal investigator with the Internal Revenue Service. He had been dismissed from both jobs.

ICE later raised questions about his suitability based on his previous employment record, according to The Washington Post. Moore challenged the decision and continued working for several months.

On 21 August, he was involved in an accident with an official vehicle that left him with a concussion and several broken bones. Days later, he was informed that he would be fired.

A week later, Moore went to an ICE office in Philadelphia carrying his service weapon. Police said officers attempted to intervene before he shot himself. The medical examiner recorded his death as a suicide caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Moore's family has disputed aspects of the police account, saying he was speaking by telephone with an ICE official who was attempting to calm him. Police said none of the officers fired their weapons and that Moore was the person who drew his gun.

The circumstances have not established that ICE's decision caused Moore's death, and the sequence should not be treated as evidence of such a connection.

Questions over the recruitment process have also followed other incidents.

In July, the government said it would review ICE's screening procedures after an officer hired during the expansion was involved in the fatal shooting of a 25-year-old motorist in Maine. Reporting has also raised questions about issues in the officer's background, including allegations of domestic violence.

ICE Explains How Vetting Procedures Work

ICE has defended its vetting procedures. The agency said its Office of Professional Responsibility 'diligently applies' personnel-vetting regulations and evaluates available information when assessing applicants. ICE has also acknowledged that some recruits received tentative selection letters and began training before their background investigations were complete.

The agency has stressed that firings are not unusual and that personnel decisions can be made when employees fail to meet established requirements.

The available reporting does not establish that all 12,000 recruits were inadequately vetted. It shows instead that some recent hires have been dismissed over concerns about their backgrounds, while whistleblower allegations have raised questions about whether the push to rapidly expand ICE compromised parts of the vetting process.