What to know about ICE's record number of firings and resignations - USA Today

President Donald Trump promised the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. To do so, his administration funneled tens of billions of dollars to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, making it the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency.

In mere months, ICE more than doubled its number of agents after it received over 200,000 applications. 

Agency officials touted this expansion as it deployed the agents to U.S. communities. But what was not advertised were the challenges that came with properly vetting and training officers on that scale. 

Just as there was a record number of hires, there was also a record number of people who left the agency, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal workforce data. Here’s what we learned. 

Between January 2025 and June 2026, the Trump administration hired nearly 12,000 full-time ICE workers. That is more than the entire previous decade, according to our analysis of Office of Personnel Management data. The surge peaked in the fall of 2025 after ICE cashed in on the funding from the president's signature One Big Beautiful Bill legislation. But almost as quickly as agents were being recruited, many were leaving.

In the first half of 2026, just over 2,900 workers left. That is already higher than any other full calendar year before. Typically, the bulk of separations comes from retirements. But in 2026, those were overshadowed by the people who were terminated and those who quit. For context, the agency had hired around 4,400 during that same time.

During 2024, when President Joe Biden was in office, terminations made up under 1% of separations at ICE. But they jumped to 18% in 2026.

Similarly, people who quit in 2024 made up about 15% of separations, which tended to be smaller than the numbers of people who retired in previous years. The share of people who quit represents more than half of separations in 2026.

And the workers leaving ICE, voluntarily and otherwise, weren't staying for long. From the people who were terminated this year, the median tenure was under four months, and about six months for those who quit. Experts pointed to a flawed vetting and training system at a time when ICE agents are being tasked with interacting more with the public, encounters that can turn deadly.

Much of the ICE employment data, such as the cities and states where workers are stationed, was redacted. But their education levels were included.

From those hired during the decade leading up to Trump's second term, a third had a graduate degree and 31% had a bachelor's degree. The people hired in the first year and a half of Trump's second term tended to have a lower education. Those with a high school diploma or less are now the largest group, making up 38% of the hires.

Experts said deportation officers carry out a complex job, which requires knowing the Constitution to perform their duties under the limits of their authority. A former attorney who trained agents how to do this testified about how the agency slashed classes critical to handling situations safely.

In an email statement, the Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency, maintained education requirements did not change and that it is hiring "the best of the best," including "experienced law enforcement officers."

To learn more about what these changes mean, read our full investigation here.