ICE Told Deportation Officers Nationwide of Recruit Joseph Moore's Death Only After Washington Post Inquiries

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) emailed its deportation officers about recruit Joseph Moore's death only after questions from The Washington Post. Those officers arrest people the US plans to deport. Moore, 38, died on 28 August outside the ICE office in Philadelphia. ICE had ordered him to that office to fire him.

That email went out on Friday, 11 September. Until then, word of the death had spread little beyond his own branch, the paper reported. Two former colleagues say ICE should have checked Moore's record first. The city office that rules on causes of death recorded a suicide. His family doubts that finding.

ICE's Response to Questions

An ICE spokesperson says the incident is under investigation. 'Anytime an individual takes their own life it's incredibly saddening,' ICE said in a statement to the paper. It also said its staff can get counselling and other help. Nothing in the paper's report explains why the email came when it did. Philadelphia police say they have completed their own inquiry into the incident and that no member of their force fired a shot.

Moore joined ICE during a hiring drive paid for by the One Big Beautiful Bill, which President Donald Trump signed into law in July 2025. ICE offered signing bonuses of $50,000 (about £37,000) and made job offers to 12,000 recruits. In August 2025, a whistleblower told the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) watchdog that ICE was clearing new hires without fingerprint or identity checks. 'The basic processes weren't even followed,' Kevin Owen, the whistleblower's lawyer, told the The Washington Post.

A Second Dismissal Three Days Later

Another officer from the Philadelphia office says ICE placed him on paid leave in June over a problem in his background. The agency had hired him without a job interview, he recalls. Supervisors took his badge and work kit, saying the order came from Washington. His dismissal letter listed three background issues, which he says ICE should have raised earlier. ICE handed him that letter on 31 August, three days after Moore died.

Both former colleagues joined ICE around the same time as Moore, and neither works there now. ICE calls the firings routine. The agency says it follows its vetting rules and can let new hires start training temporarily while full checks continue. Dick Durbin, a Democratic senator for Illinois, attacked ICE's lowered standards in a December 2025 speech. He urged the Trump administration to 'improve screening, hiring, and training of recruits' before sending them out.

What Remains Unanswered

The Post's account gives no end date for the investigation the spokesperson described. Moore's family says ICE first questioned his fitness for the job in a May letter. Still, ICE kept him on for another three months. Separately, the DHS watchdog has said it will audit ICE hiring.

Moore's family describes him as a decorated Marine who had spent 12 years working in law enforcement. In the UK, anyone struggling with thoughts of suicide can call Samaritans free on 116 123, day or night. In the US, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline answers calls and texts on 988.