Inside ICE’s ‘wartime’ hiring surge doubling the force as critics warn of militarized policing
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
A bomber jet streaking overhead. Armed agents in camouflage and body armor. A cowboy on horseback riding across a snowy plain beneath the words, "We’ll have our home again."
Those are some of the images the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using to recruit immigration enforcement officers as it ramps up hiring for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and related agencies, leaning heavily on national security language and tactical imagery to sell the job.
ICE has described its $100 million recruitment push as a "wartime recruitment" strategy in internal planning documents, according to a Washington Post report published in December 2025, as the agency moves to add thousands of new personnel. The campaign’s tone has drawn attention to recruitment messaging at a time when DHS’s interactions with the public have grown increasingly tense — and, in some cases, deadly.
SEN RUBEN GALLEGO: I WON'T FUND A ROGUE ICE THAT SHOOTS FIRST AND CALLS IT LAW ENFORCEMENT
Internal ICE planning documents described a recruitment strategy that included targeted digital advertising aimed at audiences with interests in guns, tactical gear and military culture, as well as outreach tied to events like UFC fights and gun trade shows, according to the Post. The plan also called for "geofencing," a marketing technique that delivers ads to mobile devices near specific locations, near military bases and gun trade show events.
Some former officials are questioning how the recruitment messaging aligns with the realities of civilian law enforcement work and public trust.
One of those voices is Oscar Hagelsieb, a retired Homeland Security Investigations supervisor who spent decades with ICE and says he voted for President Donald Trump three times because immigration law "needs to be enforced." Homeland Security Investigations probes transnational crime, terrorism and other threats.
But as DHS ramps up recruiting and expands enforcement operations, Hagelsieb told Fox News Digital the rhetoric and imagery represent a shift from past efforts — one that, in his view, "definitely attracts a different kind of people."
Recent recruitment materials promoted by DHS and ICE include a mix of tactical and pop-culture imagery. One social media post shows a retro-style van alongside the caption, "Want to deport illegals with your absolute boys?" followed by the line, "Think about how many illegals you could fit in this bad boy!"
BLOCKING ICE COOPERATION FUELED MINNESOTA UNREST, OFFICIALS WARN AS VIRGINIA REVERSES COURSE
Another ad reads, "No age cap. Join ICE now," and features two men in …
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
A bomber jet streaking overhead. Armed agents in camouflage and body armor. A cowboy on horseback riding across a snowy plain beneath the words, "We’ll have our home again."
Those are some of the images the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using to recruit immigration enforcement officers as it ramps up hiring for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and related agencies, leaning heavily on national security language and tactical imagery to sell the job.
ICE has described its $100 million recruitment push as a "wartime recruitment" strategy in internal planning documents, according to a Washington Post report published in December 2025, as the agency moves to add thousands of new personnel. The campaign’s tone has drawn attention to recruitment messaging at a time when DHS’s interactions with the public have grown increasingly tense — and, in some cases, deadly.
SEN RUBEN GALLEGO: I WON'T FUND A ROGUE ICE THAT SHOOTS FIRST AND CALLS IT LAW ENFORCEMENT
Internal ICE planning documents described a recruitment strategy that included targeted digital advertising aimed at audiences with interests in guns, tactical gear and military culture, as well as outreach tied to events like UFC fights and gun trade shows, according to the Post. The plan also called for "geofencing," a marketing technique that delivers ads to mobile devices near specific locations, near military bases and gun trade show events.
Some former officials are questioning how the recruitment messaging aligns with the realities of civilian law enforcement work and public trust.
One of those voices is Oscar Hagelsieb, a retired Homeland Security Investigations supervisor who spent decades with ICE and says he voted for President Donald Trump three times because immigration law "needs to be enforced." Homeland Security Investigations probes transnational crime, terrorism and other threats.
But as DHS ramps up recruiting and expands enforcement operations, Hagelsieb told Fox News Digital the rhetoric and imagery represent a shift from past efforts — one that, in his view, "definitely attracts a different kind of people."
Recent recruitment materials promoted by DHS and ICE include a mix of tactical and pop-culture imagery. One social media post shows a retro-style van alongside the caption, "Want to deport illegals with your absolute boys?" followed by the line, "Think about how many illegals you could fit in this bad boy!"
BLOCKING ICE COOPERATION FUELED MINNESOTA UNREST, OFFICIALS WARN AS VIRGINIA REVERSES COURSE
Another ad reads, "No age cap. Join ICE now," and features two men in …
Inside ICE’s ‘wartime’ hiring surge doubling the force as critics warn of militarized policing
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
A bomber jet streaking overhead. Armed agents in camouflage and body armor. A cowboy on horseback riding across a snowy plain beneath the words, "We’ll have our home again."
Those are some of the images the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using to recruit immigration enforcement officers as it ramps up hiring for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and related agencies, leaning heavily on national security language and tactical imagery to sell the job.
ICE has described its $100 million recruitment push as a "wartime recruitment" strategy in internal planning documents, according to a Washington Post report published in December 2025, as the agency moves to add thousands of new personnel. The campaign’s tone has drawn attention to recruitment messaging at a time when DHS’s interactions with the public have grown increasingly tense — and, in some cases, deadly.
SEN RUBEN GALLEGO: I WON'T FUND A ROGUE ICE THAT SHOOTS FIRST AND CALLS IT LAW ENFORCEMENT
Internal ICE planning documents described a recruitment strategy that included targeted digital advertising aimed at audiences with interests in guns, tactical gear and military culture, as well as outreach tied to events like UFC fights and gun trade shows, according to the Post. The plan also called for "geofencing," a marketing technique that delivers ads to mobile devices near specific locations, near military bases and gun trade show events.
Some former officials are questioning how the recruitment messaging aligns with the realities of civilian law enforcement work and public trust.
One of those voices is Oscar Hagelsieb, a retired Homeland Security Investigations supervisor who spent decades with ICE and says he voted for President Donald Trump three times because immigration law "needs to be enforced." Homeland Security Investigations probes transnational crime, terrorism and other threats.
But as DHS ramps up recruiting and expands enforcement operations, Hagelsieb told Fox News Digital the rhetoric and imagery represent a shift from past efforts — one that, in his view, "definitely attracts a different kind of people."
Recent recruitment materials promoted by DHS and ICE include a mix of tactical and pop-culture imagery. One social media post shows a retro-style van alongside the caption, "Want to deport illegals with your absolute boys?" followed by the line, "Think about how many illegals you could fit in this bad boy!"
BLOCKING ICE COOPERATION FUELED MINNESOTA UNREST, OFFICIALS WARN AS VIRGINIA REVERSES COURSE
Another ad reads, "No age cap. Join ICE now," and features two men in …
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