Former ICE director warns ‘wartime recruitment’ tactics are dangerous

The shooting was just one of several fatal incidents since ICE ramped up its mass deportation effort last year and raises questions about how officers are trained, especially as DHS has dodged questions about this process while more than doubling its number of agents since 2024. Recruitment efforts have been juiced by massive funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as taxpayers have found themselves funding an unprecedented swelling of immigration enforcement hiring.

Federal officers have also killed at least three other people, according to The Marshall Project, and have shot at least nine people since September, according to The New York Times. 

While ICE has ballooned to more than 22,000 agents—more than double from early 2025—the “wartime recruitment” tactics it has employed could be attracting combat-hungry or inexperienced people to the job, experts warn.

Recruitment tactics led to over 200,000 applications

DHS announced last summer its plans to hire 10,000 deportation officers, using what they internally called a “wartime recruitment,” according to an internal document reviewed by The Washington Post. 

ICE officials planned to spend $100 million over a one-year period to recruit gun rights and military support through influencers and geo-targeted advertising campaigns, according to The Post. The funding is part of the $1.7 billion allocated for border and interior enforcement, including $75 billion for ICE, to be spent over four years. 

The department’s strategy dedicated $8 million to influencers, including “former agents, veterans and pro-ICE creators,” with Gen Z and millennial audiences, according to internal documents reviewed by The Post. DHS planned to work with creators across traditional social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X as well as platforms with more conservative users such as Rumble. DHS anticipated that their influencer would bring more than 5,000 applications. 

In addition to a salary ranging from $49,739 to $89,528 a year, DHS offers up to a $50,000 signing bonus split over three years, up to $60,000 in student loan repayment and forgiveness options, and retirement benefits. 

ICE also uses a marketing strategy called “geofencing” to send ads to the phone web browsers and social media feeds of anyone located near military bases, NASCAR races, college campuses, or gun and trade shows, according to The Post.

“The recruitment initiative utilized data-driven outreach efforts to recruit qualified patriotic Americans from across the country. As a result, ICE was able to exceed its hiring surge target while maintaining rigorous standards for training and readiness,” the agency wrote in the Jan. 3 statement. 

ICE did not respond to a request for comment.

Sarah Saldaña, former director of ICE, recently told The Post she was concerned that the speed of recruitment and the framing of jobs as a war effort in marketing campaigns increased the risk of attracting people seeking combat experience. 

The department received over 220,000 applications and hired 12,000 new officers in four months. Despite reaching their personnel goal, DHS is still recruiting more officers.  

“We continue to call on American patriots to serve the homeland because we know that there’s still more work to do — and we will not stop until every community in this nation is safe,”” said ICE Deputy Director Madison D. Sheahan in a statement.

Officer training questioned 

Renee Nicole Macklin Good was shot in her car as ICE agents approached her vehicle and demanded she open the door, according to video filmed by bystanders. An ICE officer shot her at close range and was briefly hospitalized after the vehicle hit him. 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the officer who killed Macklin Good, saying that the officer “followed his training.” President Donald Trump doubled down on Wednesday, calling the video of the shooting “horrible to watch,” but said Macklin Good had “behaved horribly” and ran the agent over, even though video evidence disputes that claim. 

All new ICE agents are required to undergo the 8-week Basic Immigration Law Enforcement Training Program, during which they train 6 days a week at a facility in Georgia and learn to find, arrest, and deport people. In the past, ICE officials underwent a five-week Spanish-language training program and 16 weeks of basic training, according to the ICE website. 

The shooting comes after months of allegations of unprofessionalism and misconduct from advocacy groups. Even after a federal judge ordered ICE officers to wear individual badges, officers were seen without badges, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Some new recruits showed up to training without full vetting, having failed drug tests, physical, or academic standards, and without disclosing criminal backgrounds. 

A senior DHS official told NBC News on Wednesday that ICE officers are trained to never approach a vehicle from the front and not to shoot at a moving vehicle because it will not stop it from moving towards the officer.

Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL) filed articles of impeachment against Noem on Wednesday. 

“Secretary Noem wreaked havoc in the Chicagoland area, and now, her rogue ICE agents have unleashed that same destruction in Minneapolis, fatally shooting Renee Nicole Good,” Kelly wrote in a statement announcing the move. “ It’s one thing to be incompetent and dangerous, but it’s impeachable to break the rule of law.”