Over 40,000 Non-ICE Officers Have Been Diverted to Support Immigration Crackdown, Report Finds

Immigration and Customs Enforcement's crackdown is diverting more than 40,000 non-ICE personnel nationwide from other tasks, according to data cited by the Cato Institute.

The analysis found that from August 5–28, a total of 42,153 people assisted ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), including 28,390 from federal law enforcement agencies and more than 13,000 from state and local agencies. By comparison, ICE lists about 6,100 ERO officers, meaning most personnel driving the crackdown work outside the agency.

Cato's David Bier said the shift represents a large diversion of resources from other missions. In separate ERO records shared with Cato, roughly 14,500 federal criminal law enforcement officers were detailed to civil immigration enforcement, while ICE reported 8,501 state and local officers deputized under the 287(g) task force model—empowered to make immigration arrests—with more than 2,000 in training. "Only one in five of the officials engaged in mass deportation are actually ICE ERO removal officers," Bier wrote.

The transfers span multiple agencies. Cato's breakdown indicates about one in five U.S. Marshals and FBI agents, roughly half of DEA agents, over two-thirds of ATF personnel, and nearly 90% of Homeland Security Investigations staff supported ERO at points this year.

The outreach extends to local policing as ICE has expanded 287(g) partnerships and is recruiting municipal officers and sheriffs' deputies, sometimes with signing bonuses and loan-repayment incentives.

That approach has sparked resistance from some local leaders. After a recruitment email targeting deputies in 287(g) agencies back in August, Polk County, Fla., Sheriff Grady Judd criticized the effort, saying DHS should apologize for "poaching" local talent. The National Sheriffs' Association warned the tactic could damage cooperation that ICE relies on.

ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have said broader participation is needed to uphold federal law and protect communities, and describe recruitment as part of a nationwide effort to hire more agents, veterans, and other law-enforcement professionals.

In mid-September, the Department of Homeland Security announced Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had received more than 150,000 applications from Americans who want "to help arrest and remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from America's streets". DHS also reported that ICE had extended more than 18,000 tentative job offers.