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A bomber hovers overhead. Agents are armed with camouflage and body armor. A boy on a horse riding a snowy plain under the words: “We will have our home again.”
Those are some of the images the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uses to recruit immigrants as it tightens its recruitment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and related agencies, relying heavily on national security language and a tactical image to sell the job.
ICE described its $100 million hiring drive as a “wartime hiring” strategy in internal planning documents, according to a Washington Post report published in December 2025, as the agency will add thousands of new employees. The campaign’s tone drew attention to employment messages at a time when DHS’ interactions with the public have become increasingly tense — and, in some cases, deadly.
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Internal ICE planning documents described a recruiting strategy that included targeted digital advertising aimed at audiences interested in firearms, smart gear and military culture, as well as communications related to events such as UFC fights and gun trade shows, according to the Post. The program also called for “geofencing,” a marketing technique that delivers ads to mobile devices near certain locations, near military bases and gun trade show events.
Some former officials question how recruitment messages fit with the realities of law enforcement and public trust.
One such voice is Oscar Hagelsieb, a retired director of Homeland Security Investigations who spent decades with ICE and says he voted for President Donald Trump three times because immigration law “needs to be implemented.” Homeland Security Investigations investigates international crimes, terrorism and other threats.
Photos used in recruitment ads show ICE agents in tactical gear. (Department of Homeland Security)
But as DHS ramps up recruitment and expands enforcement operations, Hagelsieb told Fox News Digital that the rhetoric and image must change from past efforts — one that, in his view, “attracts a different kind of people.”
Recent recruitment materials developed by DHS and ICE include a combination of tactical and pop-culture imagery. Another post on social media shows a retro-style van alongside the caption, “Want to chase the illegal with your boys completely?” followed by the line, “Think of how many illegal things you can get into this bad boy!”
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One ad reads, “No age limit. Join ICE now,” and features two men in camouflage vests and tactical style — one looking much older than the other.
“You’re pushing this agenda that you’re doing … to drive these invaders out,” Hagelsieb said. “This is not a fight.”
He also added that the sight of agents in combat uniforms and armored vehicles in cities like Minneapolis and Chicago bothered him, saying that the optics are not the same as the job.
DHS, on the other hand, says that the recruitment messages do not indicate any change in the testing, training or standards of immigration enforcement officers, as the recruitment is accelerated.
The ICE ad shows a bomber flying overhead while a man rides a horse. (Department of Homeland Security)
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ICE described its latest recruitment as unprecedented.
In a January 3 press release, the agency said its recruitment drive has brought in more than 12,000 officers and agents in less than a year – more than doubling its workforce from about 10,000 employees to 22,000 employees.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a press release that the increase occurred “in about four months,” calling it a 120 percent increase for ICE.
As part of the operation, DHS has greatly compressed its training pipeline for ICE agents, reducing the total program for new Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers from about 16 weeks — previously preceded by a language course — to a simplified six- to eight-week curriculum.
DHS says the agents train six days a week and that it has “improved training to reduce the lack of funding and include technical advances, without sacrificing basic content.”
The recruitment drive and increased enforcement comes amid growing public scrutiny following a deadly encounter involving federal immigration agents.
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In January, US citizen Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent during a law enforcement operation in Minneapolis. Weeks later, Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a nurse and Minneapolis resident.
Both incidents sparked protests in Minneapolis and cities nationwide, intensifying debates about the use of force, accountability, and the role of immigration services.
DHS officials argue that enforcement shows a sharp increase in threats and violence against immigration agents.
Following the protests in Minneapolis, DHS said a Homeland Security Investigations officer was seriously injured when a protester cut off part of his finger – a claim the agency cited as evidence of growing hostility toward police.
According to DHS, attacks on immigration agents will increase more than 1,300% by 2025. The organization has also reported a significant increase in death threats and cases of exposure, or disclosure of personal information, to targeted agents and their families – trends leadership says have established security measures and recruiting messages amid an increasingly crowded workplace.
David Lapan, a retired Marine Corps colonel who served as DHS press secretary during President Donald Trump’s first term, said the current messaging on recruitment and enforcement marks a departure from past practices.
According to DHS, attacks on immigration agents will increase more than 1,300% by 2025. (DHS)
“Traditionally, Homeland Security — especially Customs and Border Protection and ICE — are hired for law enforcement, not military operations,” Lapan told Fox News Digital. “What we’re seeing now is different than anything I’ve seen in every administration, Democrat and Republican.”
Lapan also questioned the growing use of Border Patrol agents for internal operations, saying the agencies were historically designed for different missions.
“The work of the Border Patrol was close to the border,” he said. “ICE has internal law enforcement. Mixing those devices is dangerous.”
After the shootings and subsequent protests, Trump sent Tom Homan, the former acting director of ICE, to Minnesota to take over oversight of the state’s immigration enforcement operations from Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino.
“I’m not here because the federal government has done a good job,” Homan said Thursday. “I don’t want to see anyone die – not officials, not members of the public, not working principles.”
“Imagine how many illegal immigrants you can fit into this bad boy!” The ICE ad says. (DHS)
Bovino’s leadership of the project has drawn scrutiny from local officials and former federal agents over the use of Border Patrol agents in inner-city law enforcement and the optics and messaging surrounding the mission.
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“It’s unfair to those agents, because they’re not trained for that,” Hagelsieb said.
Fox News Digital reached out to DHS and ICE for comment and did not receive responses.
