The Department of Homeland Security says it is working “at turbo speed” to deport criminal illegal aliens after MSNBC ran a commentary piece outlining the challenges of hiring new immigration enforcement agents. 

“Under President [Donald] Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary, told The Daily Signal. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has “received more than 175,000 applications from Americans who want to join U.S. ICE to help arrest and remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from America’s streets,” she said.  

McLaughlin’s statement follows an MSNBC opinion column from Fordham Law School professor John Pfaff. In the op-ed, Pfaff asserts that ICE has “lowered” its hiring standards, but is still struggling to meet its goal of hiring 10,000 new agents before the end of 2025.  

In August, DHS announced it would “waive age limits” for ICE applicants, but added that recruits still would be required to undergo “medical screening, drug screening, and complete a physical fitness test.” 

While ICE has extended “tentative offers” to 18,000 individuals, according to DHS, Pfaff asserts that many applicants are “not up to the task” physically of being a field agent.  

The assistant secretary says ICE is maintaining its fitness standards while continuing to hire more agents, adding that candidates “must meet the Physical Ability Assessment standards as a condition of employment.” 

“We are moving fitness checks earlier in the training sequence to improve efficiency and accountability—not to lower standards,” she added. 

The majority of new ICE hires “are experienced law enforcement officers who have already successfully completed a law enforcement academy,” McLaughlin told The Daily Signal. “This population is expected to account for greater than 85% of new hires. Prior-service hires follow streamlined validation, but remain subject to medical, fitness, and background requirements.” 

Still, Pfaff argues ICE has only made around “1,000 successful hires, just 10% of the goal.”  

In response, McLaughlin says ICE is “deploying new officers on a rolling basis and will continue onboarding through December to hire 10,000 deportation officers.”  

Funding to hire the new agents is included in Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill, which was signed into law in July.

DHS continues to conduct an aggressive recruitment campaign as it seeks to arrest and remove illegal aliens—specifically, those with a criminal history—who are living in the U.S.  

The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has resulted in a 1,000% increase in attacks against immigration enforcement officials, according to DHS.  

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