Local law police departments and sheriff's offices across the country are being targeted by the Trump administration as ICE scrambles to meet its sky-high recruitment quotas, NBC News reported.
"As it attempts to hire 10,000 new ICE agents, the Trump Administration this week tried recruiting local law enforcement officers away from sheriff’s offices in multiple states, alienating some allies along the way," correspondent Jesse Kirsch posted to X on Thursday.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office near Tampa, Florida, told NBC News, “ICE actively trying to use our partnership to recruit our personnel is wrong and we have expressed our concern to ICE leadership." Kirsch noted that Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri "is an elected Republican who has been supportive of President Trump."
Sheriff's offices in other states, including Georgia, Texas, and Florida, confirmed to NBC News that the administration has reached out via email to try to recruit deputies in their departments.
A Florida police chief spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity, claiming that the ICE effort will exacerbate hiring challenges currently faced by local departments.
“Now you know why everybody’s so p-----," the chief said.
When asked about their recruitment efforts, a senior DHS official told NBC News, “ICE is recruiting law enforcement, veterans, and other patriots who want to serve their country and help remove gang members, child pedophiles, murderers, terrorists, and drug traffickers. This includes local law enforcement, veterans, and our 287(g) partners who have already been trained and have valuable law enforcement experience."
According to the ICE website, the 287(g) program trains local law enforcement agencies "to enforce certain aspects of U.S. immigration law" to protect their communities "from potentially dangerous criminal aliens."
At least one sheriff told NBC News he was "100% supportive" of the federal government's recruitment efforts.
"I think if someone wants to better their life, better their career… there's nothing better than the US government to go out and have a successful career,” Sheriff Thaddeus C. Cleveland with Terrell County, TX, told NBC News.