New hires and tenured officers leaving ICE amid mass deportation era
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeing higher employee turnover rates under President Donald Trump than at any point in the federal agency’s history.
TL;DR
- ICE has higher employee turnover rates under President Trump than at any point in its history.
- Thousands of ICE employees resigned or were terminated in the first half of 2026.
- The agency hired 12,000 new officers between January 2025 and June 2026 for a mass deportation campaign.
- Terminations in 2026 are higher than in the entire decade prior to Trump's second term.
- Reasons for departures include poor agency management, inadequate training and vetting, and failed background checks.
- Employees face challenges such as being dispatched to various locations, confusion from inter-agency involvement, and shifting arrest quotas.
- Concerns about personal safety due to bounties and targeting by activists are also cited.