ICE Reportedly Planning To Spend $100 Million In One Year To Recruit Military Enthusiasts

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is reportedly planning to spend $100 million in one year to recruit more agents, specifically targeting gun-rights supporters and military enthusiasts, according to a new report.

The Washington Post noted that the agency will use influencers and geo-targeted advertising campaigns to do so. The goal is to hire more than 10,000 new employees, with authorities calling on people to perform their "sacred duty" and "defend the homeland."

The ads will also target people who have attended UFC fights, listened to patriotic podcasts or shown interest in military weapons and tactical gear, the outlet added. It didn't specify how much of the budget has been used.

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin called the recruitment campaign "wildly successful" and "under budget and ahead of schedule." She went on to say that ICE has received more than 220,000 job applications in five months and made over 18,000 tentative job offers. More than 85% of new hires had experience in law enforcement, McLaughlin added.

The outlet noted that Congress tripled ICE's enforcement and deportation budget through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The agency has removed age limits for applicants and has offered signing bonuses of up to $50,000.

ICE is also is seeking contractors to renovate industrial warehouses and hold more than 80,000 migrants, according to another report by The Washington Post. Rather than sending detainees around the country depending on where there is availability, the idea is to create a feeder system where they will be booked into processing sites for weeks before being sent to large-scale warehouses.

The idea is to have seven of them, each available to hold between 5,000 and 10,000 people, and 16 smaller ones that would hold about 1,500 people. They would then be deported from there. The warehouses are set to be located close to logistics hubs in Virginia, Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Georgia and Missouri.

The plans come as ICE continues to arrest people across the U.S., reaching new records. As of Dec. 14, 2025, ICE was detaining more than 68,400 people nationwide, the highest figure ever recorded in the agency's biweekly data, according to an analysis by The Guardian.

The total surpasses a previous record set earlier this month. Based on ICE figures tracked by the newspaper, the administration has arrested more than 328,000 people and deported nearly 327,000 since January.