The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it will reduce its age requirement from 21 to as low as 18 years old for applicants to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This move is part of an effort to increase staff to conduct deportation and other operational efforts.
“We are ENDING the age cap for ICE law enforcement,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced in a press release. “Qualified candidates can now apply with no age limit.”
“We no longer have a cap on how old you can be or you can continue at age 18, sign up for ICE and join us and be a part of it,” Noem told Fox News about the policy change. “We’ll get you trained and ready to be equipped to go out on the streets and help protect families.”
According to The Associated Press, “ICE applicants must be 21 years old and no older than 37 or 40.” Despite the removal of an age-limit, applicants must pass a physical and drug test to be successful in getting employed by ICE, among other assessments. The recruitment page for ICE states:
“Deportation officers and special agents must be in excellent physical condition, able to tolerate environmental stresses and have strong critical thinking skills.”
This change in hiring policy comes after ICE began offering several incentives to future applicants, including a signing bonus of $50,000, and student loan repayment or forgiveness.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also told Fox News that ICE has been successful in its recruiting efforts to fill an additional 10,000 positions that were granted to the agency by the Big Beautiful Bill.
“As of today, we have over 80,000 applicants for those 10,000 positions already,” Noem said.
