Maine shooting and officer’s background raise new questions about ICE’s rapid hiring

WASHINGTON (AP) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement is rapidly expanding its workforce, hiring thousands of new officers as part of the Trump administration’s attempt to ramp up immigrant arrests and deportations.

ICE’s expanding size — fueled by an infusion of billions of dollars granted by Congress — has raised concerns about the agency’s hiring practices and whether officers who are hired receive proper scrutiny. The Department of Homeland Security dismissed these concerns.

Relatives of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot a Colombian man in Maine this week told The Associated Press that he had serious mental health problems since early childhood and should never have been given a badge and a gun to patrol American streets.

Read more: AP Report: ICE officer in Maine shooting has history of violent behavior, family and records say

The exact circumstances surrounding the officer’s appointment were not immediately clear. But the revelation of the man, David Brouillette, has shed new light on the hiring spree at ICE and the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

Here’s a look at the agency’s hiring and training practices:

Significant increase in new hires at ICE

In January, the Department of Homeland Security said it had hired 12,000 new officers and agents since the hiring surge began, and said thousands of those new officers have already been out on the streets to assist in investigations. The number includes deportation officers and agents for Homeland Security Investigations, a separate agency under Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE said the majority of the new appointees are police and military veterans. But evidence is mounting that applicants with questionable histories were either not fully screened before being hired or were hired despite their past, an Associated Press investigation found earlier this year.

He watches: As ICE ramps up hiring, critics have expressed concern about changes in hiring and training standards

At the time, the Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, did not answer questions about specific hiring decisions. Some applicants received “initial selection letters” and offers to begin work on temporary status before being subjected to full background checks, she said.

It defended its hiring practices, saying it conducts strict vetting.

Todd Lyons, the former acting director of ICE, said during a congressional hearing in February that he was proud of the hiring drive, which attracted more than 220,000 applications.

“This expansion of our well-trained and vetted workforce will help strengthen ICE’s ability to implement the President and the Secretary’s bold agenda,” he said.

The screening process includes reviewing applicants’ criminal histories and credit scores and conducting background investigations that include interviews with former employers and other associates, which can take weeks. ICE also promised signing bonuses of up to $50,000, announced that college degrees were not required and lowered the age for new recruits to 18.

He watches: Whistleblower and former ICE attorney calls agent training ‘deficient, flawed and broken’

An internal memo, first reported by Reuters in February, told ICE supervisors that if they received “derogatory information about the conduct of a newly hired employee,” they should refer those allegations to the Internal Affairs Unit for investigation. Such information could include employee termination or forced resignation, the memo said.

Last August, the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general announced plans to review ICE’s hiring and training processes, but no findings have been made public.

Applicants must obtain a security clearance

Recent job postings for deportation officers outline current qualifications, including that a person must be a U.S. citizen to apply, and will have to pass a background investigation and drug test.

New deportation officers must also take a physical fitness test and be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance. Once appointed, new deportation officers may have to serve a one-year probationary period.

According to the job posting, deportation officers are required to carry a firearm, which means anyone convicted of domestic violence will be excluded.

Read more: Inside the facility where Immigration and Customs Enforcement is training recruits to meet Trump’s deportation goals

Applicants undergo a medical examination and must be prepared for the possibility of being subjected to a lie detector. The application warns that any false statements in the application could translate into the job offer being withdrawn, or if the person has already started working, they could lose their job or go to prison.

A background investigation can include a credit check, reviews of any financial problems such as failure to pay child support or taxes, and a look at a person’s criminal and drug history.

Hiring a new deportation officer is like any other federal hire, said Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former ICE official during the first Obama, Trump and Biden administrations.

Generally, applications are reviewed by a hiring manager who decides which candidates to apply. Once someone gets an initial offer, the agency conducts a background check.

When people apply for jobs that involve a security clearance, they should disclose in their applications any drug use, interactions with police, groups they belong to, mental health concerns, previous addresses and employment history, Trickler-McNulty said.

Depending on the level of clearance, they will also ask for references which the background investigator will contact. If there is a red flag such as a DUI or history of debt, it may prompt a deeper investigation.

“You want to make sure the person is suitable for a position of public trust,” she said.

Concerns about changes to ICE training schedule

In general, new candidates for deportation officer positions are required to undergo a 50-day immigration enforcement training program, according to the job posting.

Ryan Schwank, a former ICE attorney who was responsible for training new deportation officers, told the Associated Press that the agency reduced the total amount of training new recruits received and reduced the tests needed to pass before graduation. The Department of Homeland Security denied that it eliminated any training requirements or reduced requirements for officers.

Trickler-McNulty said she had concerns about reports that the agency shortened training as it aimed to hire thousands of new officers. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials revamped training as part of an effort to quickly hire and train 10,000 additional deportation officers through an infusion of billions of dollars last summer from Congress.

At the time, the agency had about 6,500 deportation officers. This led to allegations that the department was cutting corners in an attempt to bring more officers into the field, which the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have repeatedly denied.

He watches: Mullen says ICE training will return to “normal standards” by July after changes under Noem

In June, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullen said the agency would increase the amount of training for new officers starting this month. All new training classes at the academy starting July 1 will last 71 days, and officers who graduated under the previous curriculum will receive further training under a separate program for field officers, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Thursday.

The department also said it would add new training on crowd control procedures, high-risk vehicle stops, live-fire exercises and medical training, in response to what they described as coordinated attacks against their officers and ICE facilities.

Associated Press reporter Jonathan J. Cooper contributed to this report from Phoenix.