U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced last week that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 empowered the agency to hire more than 11,000 new staff members, ranging from ICE agents to lawyers and support staff, as President Donald Trump reportedly plans to increase immigration enforcement in 2026.
Calling it the “most successful law enforcement recruitment campaign” in the country’s history, ICE announced that it received more than 220,000 applications to fill new positions created by the Big Beautiful Bill. Of these applicants, ICE confirmed the federal agency hired 11,751.
“Thanks to President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, ICE has the resources necessary to enforce immigration law as it’s been written and codified by Congress,” said ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan, before crediting both President Donald Trump and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem for the agency’s recent progress.
Sheahan stated, “The president and Secretary Noem set a goal and we exceeded it, but that doesn’t mean we’re done. 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.”
The agency noted that new hires may receive a signing bonus of up to $50,000, up to $60,000 in student loan repayment, and a 25 percent pay premium.
ICE announced the results of its recruitment campaign just one day after DHS revealed that an estimated 2.5 million illegal immigrants had left the United States since January.
“In President Trump’s first year back in office, more than 2.5 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, including an estimated 1.9 million self-deportations and more than 622,000 deportations,” reported DHS.
Noem called the Trump administration’s progress on its immigration agenda both “historic and consequential,” but said that the administration “is just getting started.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making America safe again and putting the American people first,” said Noem. “In record-time we have secured the border, taken the fight to cartels, and arrested thousands upon thousands of criminal illegal aliens. Though 2025 was historic, we won’t rest until the job is done.”
According to a Sunday report by Reuters, the Trump administration is preparing for a “more aggressive” effort to deport illegal immigrants in 2026, potentially including “hundreds of thousands of Haitian, Venezuelan, and Afghan immigrants,” who saw their immigration status changed during the first year of Trump’s second term.
White House Border Czar Tom Homan told the outlet, “I think you’re going to see the numbers explode greatly next year,” including from workplace raids.
Earlier this year, Tennessee reported more than 2,700 arrests or convictions of illegal immigrants by state or local law enforcement during the final three months of 2024. Data for 2025 is expected to be released in January.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
