Among the number of videos uploaded to social media in recent months showing clashes between US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and protesters in states like Minnesota, a recent clip actually captured what would pass as a relatively civil conversation between the two sides.
The video, uploaded to NowThis Impact’s YouTube account on January 14, features a pair of unidentified bystanders, who remain off-camera, talking to a man wearing a vest that reads “ICE Police” and who identifies himself as an ICE officer (1). It is not clear if they are in Minnesota or in a different locale.
The video begins with the two bystanders – a man and a woman – telling the alleged ICE agent that he “should be ashamed.” The ICE agent turns to them and says, “I love my job, thank you.”
When pressed, he adds, “I can’t believe I get paid for this. I do it for free.”
The woman nearby then notes that she makes a salary of $200,000, although the background noise on the recording makes it difficult to make out her exact job title beyond the word “assistant.” Anyway, when you tell the ICE agent that you went to school for “over seven years” to earn that salary, the ICE agent responds with, “I went to high school and I make $200k.”
The video has garnered over 2.1 million views as of this writing, with many commenters expressing their own feelings on the subject. Some questioned whether the ICE agent would actually do the work for free, while others disputed the $200,000 salary claim.
So how much do ICE agents patrol American cities make?
In a longer version of the same video, a tag with the designation “ERO” is seen on the front of the ICE officer’s vest (2).
ERO stands for Enforcement and Removal Operations and, while it’s hard to be sure what his official position is based on the video, the evidence on his clothing and the fact that he’s out in the field among other law enforcement suggest he’s likely a deportation officer.
Deportation officers are described in the official ICE workstation as providing support for work “related to immigration investigation, custody, identification and location, arrest, prosecution and deportation” (3). This includes assisting “with the apprehension of individuals who are accused of violating immigration or related laws.” In the longer version of the video, the ICE officer tells the two bystanders “I don’t care what they told you. If you get in the way, I’ll arrest you” (2).
The job posting lists the annual salary range for the position between $51,632 and $84,277, which appears to invalidate the ICE officer’s claim of a $200,000 salary. It also notes that “a student loan repayment incentive may be available” to those hired in the position and adds that benefits may include “health, dental, vision, life and long-term care insurance; retirement plan; Thrift Savings Plan. [similar to a 401(k)]” and more (3).
Some positions, such as the homeland defender job (immigration services officer), offer “up to $50,000 in signing and retention bonuses” (4). But such an advantage is not mentioned under the benefits of the deportation officer.
As for education, the posting states that candidates must demonstrate completion of a four-year bachelor’s degree or “combinations of successfully completed post-secondary education and experience,” which “can be used to meet total qualification requirements.”
The official ICE recruitment homepage, however, specifically emphasizes front and center that “You do not need an undergraduate degree” (5). And a separate job description of a deportation officer specifically states that the basic requirements for the job are to have American citizenship and a driver’s license, the ability to carry a firearm and to be under the age of 40 (6). So the officer’s claim of only having a high school education could conceivably be true.
Meanwhile, other jobs posted on the official ICE site, which certainly require much more than a high school diploma, also fall under the $200,000-a-year salary mark. Those include information technology specialist (up to $185,234 per year), local head dentist (up to $150,000 per year), and supervisory accountant (up to $187,093 per year) (7, 8, 9). A general counsel for labor and employment law is listed as making up to $197,200 per year (10).
ICE is funded by the massive allocation of $76 billion in the Republican “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed last year – increasing the department’s budget nearly tenfold. A bill that would add another $10 billion to ICE’s coffers passed the House last week and is headed to the Senate (11).
Last year the Department of Homeland Security went on a hiring blitz with funding, announcing the hiring of more than 12,000 ICE officers (12).
ICE’s recent hiring surge has also drawn scrutiny over how rigorously applicants are screened. In a recent first-person account for Slate, a former Army veteran said she passed an initial interview for a deportation officer role at an ICE recruiting event, despite no law enforcement background and a highly critical public record of the agency (13).
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While the ICE agent in the video says he loves his job and “does it for free,” and the perks offered to new recruits sound enticing, multiple reports suggest that not all of his colleagues feel as content.
In the wake of the shooting deaths of civilians Renée Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minnesota earlier this month – and protests that have escalated against ICE as a result – more than 20 ICE agents spoke to the New York Times about declining morale, expressing frustration with, among other things, the long hours the job requires, expectations related to arrest quotas, “the White Office’s shars and Homeland”. and a lack of training to deal with such tense protests.
And Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin also reported that he spoke with “more than half a dozen federal sources involved [in] immigration enforcement, including many in high positions” who “grew increasingly uneasy and frustrated” (15).
He wrote that the sources also expressed a drop in morale and suggested “an erosion of trust and credibility” from their perspective when it comes to messages about the fatal shootings from their DHS bosses.
Taken together, the viral video, ICE’s own job postings and recent reporting on the agency’s hiring push paint a much more complicated picture than the official’s confident claims suggest. While some agents clearly feel passionate about the job, publicly available listings do not advertise salaries of $200,000 for on-site roles, highlighting a discrepancy between the viral claims and the details described in official recruitment materials.
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@nowthisimpact (1); @KimKatieUSA (2); Jobs in the United States (3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10); US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (5, 6); The Washington Post (11); Department of Homeland Security (12); Slate (13); The New York Times (14); @BillMelugin_ (15)
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