2026年2月26日 上午11:02 UTC / 路透社
作者：泰德·赫森（Ted Hesson）和克里斯蒂娜·库克（Kristina Cooke）
[1/2] 美国移民与海关执法局（ICE）特工及其他执法人员于2026年1月18日，即一名ICE特工枪杀雷妮·妮可·古德（Renee Nicole Good）数天后，在美国明尼苏达州圣保罗市的一处住宅进行移民突袭行动。路透社/利亚·米利斯（Leah Millis）/资料图片
- 摘要
- ICE概述处理新兵过往不当行为指控的流程
- 国土安全部否认ICE在背景调查方面存在困难
- 对缩短培训时长和审查质量的担忧
华盛顿，2月26日（路透社） – 美国移民与海关执法局（ICE）周一在内部电子邮件中表示，该局在历史性招募潮期间，难以跟上对新招募人员的审查速度，并正在制定处理新兵过往不当行为指控的流程，凸显了ICE快速扩张所引发的担忧。
这份发送给ICE执法与驱逐行动部门主管的电子邮件显示，路透社获得了该邮件。邮件称，“大量新招募人员”和停滞的背景调查可能会在出现与入职前行为相关的指控时，给现场办公室带来不确定性，此类指控应提交给内部诚信调查部门（Integrity Investigations Unit，简称IIU）。
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“如果现场办公室收到关于新雇佣员工在ERO（执法与驱逐行动部门）入职前行为的负面信息（例如，因不当行为被另一执法机构解雇或辞职以避免解雇），请将此事提交给IIU，”邮件中称。
12,000名ICE官员已被雇佣：国土安全部
唐纳德·特朗普总统领导的共和党政府去年雇佣了数千名ICE官员，以支持特朗普的大规模驱逐行动，这一快速招聘速度引发了人们对审查和新兵质量的质疑。
特朗普将移民描绘成罪犯并认为他们是美国社区的负担，并表示在其民主党前任乔·拜登任内非法移民数量高企后，驱逐行动是必要的。但近几个月来，随着联邦官员逮捕非罪犯（包括家庭和儿童）并与居民发生冲突，特朗普的移民政策支持率有所下降。1月份在明尼阿波利斯，两名美国公民被枪杀。
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国土安全部（ICE隶属于该部门）1月份表示，除现有1万名官员外，已额外雇佣了1.2万名ICE官员，尽管联邦员工数据库显示招聘人数较少，若计入离职人数，净增人数为6,200人。
国土安全部发言人劳伦·比斯（Lauren Bis）否认ICE在处理背景调查方面存在困难，并表示该邮件旨在告知主管们他们可获得的资源。
“这并非在强调任何审查问题，而是提醒主管们ICE提供的服务和资源，”她表示，“所有新招募人员在入职时都经过全面的背景调查和持续审查，包括犯罪和财务检查。”
国土安全部在1月底表示，联邦数据库中较低的招聘数字是由于联邦报告存在滞后。
一位政府官员表示，白宫副幕僚长斯蒂芬·米勒（Stephen Miller）去年在电话会议上大力推动ICE在年底前实现激进的招聘目标。
“总统的整个团队都在努力确保其议程得到实施，”一位白宫官员在回应有关米勒角色的置评请求时表示。
新兵被指涉嫌帮派关联、刑事指控
民主党人和一些前ICE官员对加速招聘可能导致不合格或危险候选人混入队伍表示担忧。
美国参议员迪克·杜宾（Dick Durbin）去年在致国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆（Kristi Noem）的信中，将ICE的招聘比作21世纪初边境巡逻队的招聘潮，后者随后出现了更多针对特工的指控。作为民主党第二号人物的杜宾表示，ICE的激增“可能导致更多官员不当行为”。
曾在民主党前总统乔·拜登任内担任ICE官员的克莱尔·特里克勒-麦克纳特（Claire Trickler-McNulty）表示，背景调查有助于确保官员有守法记录，并能发现可能使其易受勒索的过往行为。
“为了加快速度、走捷径或限制背景调查或培训，会将公众和其他执法人员置于危险之中，”她说。
一位现任和一位前任美国政府官员向路透社透露，一些新兵在被雇佣后已因问题被标记，他们要求匿名以分享内部运作细节。
前任官员表示，去年，在佐治亚州培训学院参加培训时，两名新兵因纹身被标记为MS-13帮派成员的嫌疑。至少有五名其他学员在ICE得知他们有未决逮捕令后被解雇。
“他们在进入学院之前没有完成背景调查，”前任官员表示。
现任官员称，今年2月，一名新员工在背景调查中发现问题后，被从ICE办公室带走。
ICE未公布解雇的新招募人员数量。美国全国广播公司新闻（NBC News）2025年10月援引内部数据报道，自招聘激增开始以来，ICE已解雇了200多名新兵。
另一位官员表示，在另一个办公室，三分之一的新员工仍在等待停滞的背景调查完成，其中包括一些已完成培训的人员。
泰德·赫森（Ted Hesson）和克里斯蒂娜·库克（Kristina Cooke）报道，罗德·尼克尔斯（Rod Nickel）编辑
我们的标准：路透社信托原则
Exclusive: ICE struggles to vet recruits amid US immigration enforcement push, internal email shows
February 26, 2026 11:02 AM UTC / Reuters
By Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke
节点运行失败
Item 1 of 2 ICE agents and other law enforcement officers conduct an immigration raid at a home in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S., days after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
[1/2]ICE agents and other law enforcement officers conduct an immigration raid at a home in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S., days after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
- ICE outlines process for handling past misconduct allegations
- DHS denies ICE struggles with background checks
- Concerns over shortened training and vetting quality
WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is struggling to keep pace with vetting new hires during its historic recruitment push and is laying out a process to deal with allegations of past misconduct among recruits, the agency said in an internal email on Monday, underscoring concerns about ICE’s rapid expansion.
The email, sent to supervisors with ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division and seen by Reuters, said the “high volume of new hires” and stalled background checks could create uncertainty for field offices when allegations arise related to actions before joining ICE, and that allegations should be referred to the internal Integrity Investigations Unit.
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“If a Field Office receives derogatory information about a newly hired employee’s conduct prior to ERO employment (e.g., termination or resignation in lieu of terminationfrom another law enforcement agency for misconduct), please refer the matter to IIU,” it said.
12,000 ICE OFFICERS HIRED: DHS
President Donald Trump’s Republican administration hired thousands of ICE officers last year to support Trump’s mass deportation drive, a fast pace that raised questions about the vetting and quality of recruits.
Trump portrays migrants as criminals and a drain on U.S. communities, and says the deportations are needed after high levels of illegal immigration under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. But public support for Trump’s immigration approach has declined in recent months as federal officers arrested non-criminals, including families and children, and clashed with residents, killing two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January.
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, said in January it had hired 12,000 ICE officers on top of an existing force of 10,000 officers, although a federal workforce database showed fewer hires, creating a net gain of 6,200 when factoring in departures.
DHS spokesperson Lauren Bis denied ICE was struggling to process background checks and said the email was meant to inform supervisors of resources available to them.
“This was not highlighting any vetting problems, but rather a reminder of the services and resources ICE provides supervisors,” she said. “All new hires go through extensive background checks and continuous vetting when they are hired including criminal and financial checks.”
DHS said in late January that the lower hiring figures in the federal database were due to a lag in federal reporting.
An administration official said White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller last year pushed hard on conference calls for ICE to hit aggressive hiring goals before year-end.
“The president’s entire team has worked to make sure his agenda is implemented,” a White House official said in response to a request for comment regarding Miller’s role.
RECRUITS FLAGGED FOR SUSPECTED GANG TIES, CRIMINAL CHARGES
Democrats and some former ICE officials have raised concerns that accelerated recruitment could let unqualified or dangerous candidates into the ranks.
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last year, compared ICE recruitment to a Border Patrol hiring push in the 2000s that was followed by more allegations against agents. Durbin, the second-highest-ranking Democratic senator, said ICE’s surge would “likely result in increased officer misconduct.”
Claire Trickler-McNulty, who was an ICE official under former Democratic President Joe Biden, said background checks help ensure officers have a history of following the law and detect prior actions that could make them vulnerable to blackmail.
“To speed, shortcut, or limit background checks or training puts the public and other law enforcement officers at risk,” she said.
Some recruits have been flagged for problems after being hired, one current and one former U.S. official told Reuters, requesting anonymity to share details on internal operations.
In one instance last year, two recruits were flagged as suspected members of the MS-13 gang based on their tattoos while attending the training academy in Georgia, the former official said. At least five other trainees were fired when ICE learned they had active warrants for their arrest, the former official said.
“They weren’t completing the background checks before they would get to the academy,” the former official said.
One hire was escorted out of an ICE office in February after a problem was detected in his background check, the current official said.
ICE does not publish data on the number of new hires it has fired. NBC News reported in October 2025 that ICE had dismissed more than 200 recruits since the hiring surge began, citing internal data.
In another office, a third of hires are waiting for their stalled background checks to be completed, including some who have graduated from training, the official said.
Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Rod Nickel
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
