Federal watchdogs have launched a confidential investigation into the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's chaotic drive to hire 10,000 new agents, the Daily Mail can reveal. The probe, initiated by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG), is examining whether the unprecedented hiring surge has compromised vetting and training standards, potentially endangering public safety.
Scrutiny After a Fatal Shooting
The investigation, which began in August, gained urgent new focus following the January 7 shooting death of protester Renee Good in Minneapolis. Good was killed by ICE officer Jon Ross, an incident that rattled national confidence in the agency. This event, combined with near-daily news footage showing aggressive confrontations with protestors and a separate incident in Santa Ana, California, where a 21-year-old was permanently blinded by a non-lethal round, has fuelled significant public unease. One poll indicates 46% of Americans now support abolishing ICE entirely.
A team of inspectors is scheduled to visit the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Georgia, next week. Sources indicate new recruits are being fast-tracked through this facility. The audit, temporarily stalled by DHS officials slow to provide information, may take months to complete and will result in a report to Congress.
'A Recipe for Disaster': Lowered Standards and Fast-Tracked Training
Insiders have described a hiring process marred by dangerously lowered standards. "They're offering $50,000 incentives for people to sign up, dropping their vetting and fitness standards, and then not training them well," one source stated. "This would appear to be a recipe for disaster."
Investigators are particularly focused on who authorised reductions in training quality. The academy course has been shortened from five months to roughly two-and-a-half, partly because ICE scrapped the Spanish language requirement for recruits—a move one insider labelled 'estúpido', given the demographics of many subjects. Firearms and tactical training have also been scaled back.
"One of the things they cut down on was firearms training and tactics," a second source revealed. "With everything that's going on across the country, they need to increase the training, not scale back." An observer of the Georgia training noted an overemphasis on "force escalation" rather than de-escalation techniques crucial for handling volatile protest situations.
Vetting Failures and a 'Hothead Central' Culture
The probe is also examining severe lapses in background checks. In the rush to flood the field, ICE is allegedly failing to properly investigate the histories of former police officers, including past misconduct. One source cited a recruit with a history of sexual harassment in a prior Texas patrol job and another California recruit known for inappropriately discharging his firearm.
"It's hothead central over there," the source said, adding that White House border czar Tom Homan has been made aware of the problems. Under Homan's oversight, ICE previously rejected OIG recommendations to centralise and improve training after a critical 2018 report, leaving those issues "open and unresolved."
According to DHS officials, ICE doubled its workforce in 2025 to over 22,000 officers, a 120% increase since July following an $8 billion congressional allocation. A December Daily Mail investigation revealed this surge attracted "misfit recruits," including recent high school graduates, applicants with poor literacy, and individuals with pending criminal charges.
While agent Jon Ross had years of experience, and training cuts may not have directly caused Good's death, sources warn that systemic corner-cutting creates a perilous environment. "If anything positive comes out of this mess, it should be a reminder to take de-escalation training way more seriously," concluded one training observer. The OIG's final findings will determine the lasting impact of this rapid expansion on federal law enforcement integrity.
