ICE Launches $100 Million Media Campaign to Boost Agent Recruitment for 2026 Deportation Effort
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is planning a $100 million, yearlong media campaign aimed at recruiting thousands of agents to support its 2026 deportation push. The campaign specifically targets conservative audiences, including right-wing radio listeners, gun rights enthusiasts, followers of military affairs, and men's lifestyle fans. Advertising will be geofenced near military bases, NASCAR events, gun shows, trade shows, and college campuses to reach these groups effectively.
In addition, ICE intends to spend over $8 million on deals with fitness, military, and tactical online influencers to promote its immigration enforcement agenda to Gen Z and millennial viewers. Recruitment messaging frames immigration enforcement as a patriotic duty and portrays immigrants as criminals both in recruitment materials and on the agency's website. New hires are offered incentives such as signing bonuses up to $50,000 and student loan forgiveness up to $60,000.
To date, ICE has received more than 220,000 applications and extended over 18,000 tentative job offers. Recruitment events, including one held in Arlington, Texas, have attracted sizable crowds. White House border czar Tom Homan indicated that immigrant arrests will increase in 2026, particularly due to intensified workplace enforcement as additional officers are brought on board.
The recruitment effort is enabled by legislation such as HR 1, passed in July, which allocated approximately $77 billion for detention and enforcement activities. ICE currently has funding to hire about 14,000 new employees. The agency’s detainee population stands at 68,440, with around 300,000 removals carried out since former President Trump’s second inauguration.
