DHS Drops Facts on Leftist Fearmongering of Unqualified and Undertrained ICE Officers [WATCH]

A discussion between Batya Ungar-Sargon and Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin focused on immigration enforcement narratives, with McLaughlin disputing claims that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are poorly trained and defending the agency’s recruitment, morale, and enforcement priorities.

Ungar-Sargon raised concerns that have circulated widely among Democrats and critics of immigration enforcement, particularly assertions that ICE officers lack sufficient training or experience.

“And another thing people are complaining a lot about is the training aspect of this. You hear this narrative from the Democrats as if these are a bunch of sort of kids who have no training. Tell us a little bit about the training and experience of the average ICE officer,” Ungar-Sargon said.

McLaughlin responded by directly rejecting those claims and said the portrayal of ICE officers as inadequately prepared is inaccurate.

“Yeah, I’m so glad you asked this question, because this is a lot of misinformation out there on this, especially people saying that we have lowered the standard, the quality or the time that our law enforcement officers have for their training, absolutely not true,” McLaughlin said.

She acknowledged that the training timeline is shorter than in some other federal programs but said that does not mean it is less rigorous.

“It is on a truncated timeline, but it’s just a more intense training down there at FLETC in Georgia, they are trained in driving firearms as well as de escalation tactics, conflict management,” she said.

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McLaughlin emphasized that ICE officers arrive with significant professional backgrounds before entering federal service.

“These are highly trained individuals, and 85% of our recruits have prior law enforcement experience. We see even higher number have prior military experience,” she said.

“So these are men and women who know the law, they understand the law, and they are know how to use their enforcement tactics very, very accurately.”

Ungar-Sargon then turned the conversation toward morale and recruitment, noting sustained criticism of ICE from elected officials and activist groups.

“Given all of the narratives that are developing around ICE, all the negativity from elected officials, what is morale like, and has recruitment suffered as a result of this?” she asked.

McLaughlin said recruitment has remained strong despite political pressure and public criticism.

“Recruitment hasn’t suffered. We have about 130,000 applications to join ICE, which is really remarkable given that, we set out to hire 12,000 individuals, and we’ll keep that recruitment coming,” she said.

She added that morale among officers remains intact, particularly because agents understand the nature of their work and the individuals they are targeting.

“We need to have law enforcement give us backup as far as morale goes, I think our men and women on the ground, they know the truth. They know the facts at hand. They’ve been in these tentious and often hostile situations, and I think that they know who we’re going after,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin stressed that ICE enforcement efforts are focused on individuals with serious criminal backgrounds, pushing back on claims that the agency is conducting indiscriminate arrests.

“We are arresting the worst, the worst, 70% of those criminal legal aliens that we have have arrested since the start of this administration either have prior criminal convictions or active pending criminal charges,” she said.

She said that figure does not capture the full scope of ICE’s enforcement priorities.

“And Batya, that doesn’t even include the people who have or wanted for a crime in their home country or a third country that doesn’t include known or suspected terrorists, gang members, people with inner poll notices,” McLaughlin continued.

She concluded by reiterating that the agency’s focus is not rhetorical but operational.

“So we really are. We’re going after the worst of the worst. That’s not just a talking point. That’s the reality on the ground,” she said.

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