Image Credit: Christopher Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has added 12,000 new officers and agents in under 12 months as the Trump administration ramps up interior enforcement heading into 2026.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) just announced a massive expansion of personnel made possible by funding allocated under the Big, Beautiful Bill.
“After receiving more than 220,000 applications to join ICE from patriotic Americans, ICE blew past its original hiring target of 10,000 new officers and agents within a year. In fact, we have more than doubled our officers and agents from 10,000 to 22,000,” DHS explained in a press release issued on Saturday.
“With these new patriots on the team, we will be able to accomplish what many say was impossible and fulfill President Trump’s promise to make America safe again.”
Thousands of these recent hires are already operating in the field while many more are in training.
DHS is still accepting applications to join ICE and is offering significant incentives to do so.
Meanwhile, DHS has launched a hard-hitting publicity campaign for enforcement efforts, even teasing a nine-figure deportation target.
“The peace of a nation no longer besieged by the third world,” DHS posted on New Year’s Eve along with an image of a vintage car parked on a sun-soaked, pristine beach.
“America After 100 Million Deportations,” a caption on the illustration reads.
More than 2.5 million illegal aliens were removed or driven out of the U.S. during 2025, according to the administration.
Roughly 1.9 million illegals self-deported while some 622,000 were removed or driven back after illegally crossing U.S. borders, DHS says.
“In less than a year, President Trump has delivered some of the most historic and consequential achievements in presidential history—and this Administration is just getting started,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem stated last month.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making America safe again and putting the American people first. In record-time we have secured the border, taken the fight to cartels, and arrested thousands upon thousands of criminal illegal aliens. Though 2025 was historic, we won’t rest until the job is done.”
