Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is demanding answers from the Department of Homeland Security about the hiring practices at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem obtained by NOTUS, Durbin, who has a long history of working on immigration issues, made clear his concerns stem from changes as the agency rapidly expands its workforce to meet President Donald Trump’s ambitious deportation targets.
Durbin raised concerns about ICE’s plan to hire roughly 10,000 new agents, an initiative funded by Republicans’ reconciliation package that passed over the summer, alleging it has led to “unlawful” actions from agents.
“We are deeply concerned that these cruel, unlawful, and unprofessional actions will be worsened by lowering standards for recruiting law enforcement officials to work at ICE,” Durbin wrote in the letter sent on Tuesday.
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His letter goes into detail about a series of changes in hiring practices involving ICE, including dropping the requirement that agents speak Spanish, shortening training by five weeks, and removing the previous age cap as well as allowing applicants as young as 18 to apply.
ICE has also rolled out an aggressive marketing campaign, offering $50,000 signing bonuses, student loan forgiveness and overtime pay, according to the letter.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the letter, Durbin requested a report by Nov. 4 of how ICE screens applicants for ties to extremist groups and whether the agency is conducting background checks to identify participants in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Durbin also asked that Noem provide detailed records covering ICE’s recruitment practices, contracts with private hiring firms, advertising spending and any disciplinary tracking mechanisms for new hires.
“Given these developments, greater congressional oversight of ICE’s hiring is essential,” Durbin wrote in the letter.
His letter comes after reports of the Trump administration’s efforts to expand ICE amid the focus for mass deportations, a major policy of this administration.
Durbin’s home state of Illinois is currently being targeted by the Trump administration in ICE raids, specifically the city of Chicago. Durbin was denied entry into a detention facility in Broadview, Illinois, earlier this month. He criticized the administration for its lack of transparency.
“I don’t understand why [we were denied entry]. If they thought these operations were compliant with the law and accomplishing something good for America, they would certainly want the people to see them who are responsible for funding their agency. The opposite’s been true,” he said last week.
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