A massive federal hiring campaign has brought thousands of new immigration enforcement officers onto the job, but many arrived with troubling employment histories that might have disqualified them under normal circumstances.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement expanded its workforce by 12,000 officers and agents after receiving $75 billion from Congress to support President Trump’s deportation initiatives. The agency processed over 220,000 applications in what officials called an unprecedented recruitment drive.
However, an Associated Press review of more than 40 recent hires who publicized their new positions on professional networking sites uncovered concerning patterns. Among the new employees were individuals with multiple bankruptcies, rapid job turnover, and previous allegations of law enforcement misconduct.
One case involved an officer with two bankruptcy filings and employment at six different law enforcement agencies within three years. Another new hire faced accusations of falsifying a police report that led to an innocent woman’s arrest, resulting in a $75,000 legal settlement. A third candidate had previously failed to complete police academy training and worked just three weeks as a patrol officer before resigning.
Claire Trickler-McNulty, who worked for ICE across multiple administrations, warned about the risks of rushed hiring processes. “If vetting is not done well and it’s done too quickly, you have higher risk of increased liability to the agency because of bad actions, abuse of power and the lack of ability to properly carry out the mission because people don’t know what they are doing,” she explained.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons defended the hiring surge during February congressional testimony, stating he was proud of the recruitment effort. “This expansion of a well-trained and well-vetted workforce will help further ICE’s ability to execute the president’s and secretary’s bold agenda,” Lyons testified.
The Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that some candidates received preliminary job offers and began working temporarily before completing full background investigations. Officials emphasized that screening remains an ongoing process rather than a single evaluation.
Among the specific cases examined was Carmine Gurliacci, 46, who left his position with Richmond Hill, Georgia police to join ICE’s Atlanta office in December. Court records show Gurliacci declared bankruptcy twice – once in 2013 with $95,000 in debts, and again in 2022 when he reported no income and was living with friends while unemployed.
Financial difficulties represent significant warning signs for federal law enforcement positions, according to experts, as they may make officers vulnerable to corruption or bribery – issues that have previously plagued ICE operations.
Following his 2022 bankruptcy discharge, Gurliacci worked for six different Georgia law enforcement agencies over three years, consistently resigning before moving to his next position. At one campus security job, he cited “unforeseen personal issues that render me unable to fulfill my duties” in his resignation letter.
Another new ICE employee, Andrew Penland, 29, joined the agency after leaving his deputy sheriff position in Greenwood County, Kansas. Penland’s previous employer, Bourbon County, Kansas, paid $75,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging he arrested a woman on fabricated charges in 2022.
The incident involved June Bench, who was accused by a county official neighbor of nearly striking him with her vehicle. Body camera footage showed Penland encouraging the neighbor to press charges and promising the case would be resolved through plea negotiations without requiring testimony.
Despite Bench’s denials and claims the accusation stemmed from a personal dispute, Penland arrested her on felony assault charges and impounded her car. His report claimed surveillance video showed Bench’s vehicle speeding and forcing the neighbor to jump aside.
Bench spent a week in jail before being released, and prosecutors eventually dismissed the charges due to insufficient evidence. When she obtained the surveillance footage Penland referenced, it showed her making a routine turn with no near-collision occurring.
“That’s scary to me. He abuses his power,” Bench said upon learning of Penland’s ICE employment.
A third hire, Antonio Barrett, initially failed to complete a Colorado law enforcement academy in 2020, requiring special arrangements for a one-day makeup session to graduate. He worked only three weeks as a police officer in La Junta, Colorado, before resigning and never returning to local law enforcement.
Barrett previously faced an excessive force lawsuit while working as a corrections officer, accused of inflicting unnecessary pain on a handcuffed inmate during a 2017 incident. Courts ultimately dismissed the case, ruling the officers’ actions were not excessive.
Marshall Jones, a police recruitment expert at Florida Institute of Technology, suggested ICE likely hired candidates who met minimum qualifications but would normally be rejected during typical hiring processes. “If you’re hiring hundreds or thousands of people, even with the best of background processes, there are going to be outliers,” Jones noted.
Former ICE academy instructor Ryan Schwank testified in February that agency leadership reduced training time for use of force, firearms safety, and protester rights. He reported that some new recruits are as young as 18, lack college education, and have limited English proficiency.
“We’re not giving them the training to know when they’re being asked to do something that they’re not supposed to do, something illegal or wrong,” Schwank testified.
ICE maintains that new officers receive 56 days of formal training plus 28 days of supervised field experience, and that most new hires have completed previous law enforcement academies. The agency offered signing bonuses up to $50,000 and eliminated college degree requirements to attract candidates.
An internal memo obtained by Reuters instructed ICE supervisors to refer any “derogatory information about a newly hired employee’s conduct” to internal affairs investigators, including information about terminations or forced resignations from previous positions.
