ICE Loses Agency Employees at Record Pace as Thousands of New Recruits Quit or Get Fired Quickly

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement shed more than 2,900 employees in the first six months of 2026, surpassing its annual record for staff departures even as the Trump administration pushes ahead with a rapid hiring drive to expand deportation operations.

Figures based on Office of Personnel Management data analysed by USA TODAY show an agency growing at extraordinary speed while simultaneously losing workers through resignations and terminations. Between January 2025 and June 2026, ICE hired nearly 12,000 full-time employees, more than during the entire previous decade.

ICE Hiring Surge Meets Record Departures

ICE hired about 4,400 workers during the first six months of 2026, while just over 2,900 employees left. In earlier years, retirements accounted for much of the agency's turnover. That pattern changed sharply in 2026, when resignations and terminations overtook retirements as major reasons for departures.

Terminations accounted for less than 1 per cent of ICE separations in 2024. In 2026, they represented 18 per cent, according to the USA TODAY analysis. Resignations rose from about 15 per cent of separations in 2024 to more than half in 2026.

The departures also involved many relatively recent hires. The median tenure for employees who were terminated in 2026 was less than four months, while those who resigned had worked for a median of about six months.

The turnover comes as ICE has received more than 200,000 applications and expanded its workforce during the Trump administration's recruitment campaign. The expansion has raised questions about whether ICE can maintain consistent screening and training as it increases its ranks.

Vetting and Training Face New Scrutiny

Concerns over recruitment have intensified following reports of employees being removed after problems emerged during or after the hiring process.

A veteran ICE officer told the Washington Examiner that recruits were frequently dismissed after poor decisions in the field or failed background checks. Reuters has separately reported that at least five trainees were fired after ICE discovered they had outstanding arrest warrants.

Those cases do not establish that ICE broadly hired people who were ineligible to serve. Federal hiring rules require background investigations, and the Department of Homeland Security has defended its screening process.

ICE says its vetting includes criminal-history checks, fingerprinting, interviews, credit reviews and contacts with previous employers and other associates. DHS has also said background investigations can continue after a recruit has begun training, describing vetting as an ongoing process rather than a one-time check.

Training has faced similar scrutiny. The Washington Post reported in March that ICE removed about 240 hours from its basic training programme in 2025, representing more than 40 per cent of instructional time. DHS disputed claims that the changes reduced the overall amount or quality of training.

The administration later moved to restore longer training. DHS said new academy classes beginning 1 July would last 71 days, while officers who graduated under the previous curriculum would receive additional instruction.

ICE Plans More Hiring Despite Churn

The staffing expansion is continuing despite the record departures. ICE is preparing to hire another 5,000 employees in the coming months, according to the Washington Post.

The agency had about 29,000 employees in July, roughly 8,000 more than when Trump took office, according to federal workforce data.

The figures show why new hires alone do not tell the whole story. ICE may be adding thousands of employees, but a significant number are leaving before they accumulate long experience with the agency.

That matters for an organisation whose officers can carry firearms, make arrests and conduct operations involving vulnerable people.

The Trump administration says it needs more personnel to carry out its immigration priorities. Critics, former officials and some current employees have questioned whether the pace of expansion is making it harder to maintain vetting, training and operational standards.

For ICE, the challenge is no longer simply how to recruit thousands of employees. It is whether the agency can turn that hiring surge into a stable, experienced workforce.