Experts: Long Island police officers make for attractive recruits as ICE ramps up efforts to hire scores of new agents

The incentives to join one of America's most controversial workforces are meant to be enticing: up to a $50,000 signing bonus, student loan forgiveness and lucrative overtime hours.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, has ramped up its recruitment efforts to hire scores of new agents by offering attractive benefits in order to fulfill President Donald Trump's push to arrest and deport millions of people who the administration says are in the country illegally.

The massive recruitment drive to hire some 10,000 ICE employees, which began in late July, could impact local police departments — including on Long Island and in New York City — if officers were to leave in droves to join the federal immigration enforcement effort.

Police officers on Long Island and in New York City — already vetted and among the most highly trained in law enforcement — would be attractive recruits, experts say.

The White House has set a goal of 3,000 ICE arrests daily and 1 million deportations annually, according to published reports.

The annual salary for deportation officers ranges from $49,739 to $89,528, according to USA Jobs, an official government website.

Anthony Cangelosi, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan and a former Homeland Security agent who spent 26 years in federal law enforcement including the Secret Service, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Coast Guard, said it's a "possibility" that the recruitment effort could draw from local police departments. 

"It’s a very heavy recruitment effort right now," said Cangelosi. "They’re making lucrative offers."

Federal law enforcement agencies like to hire individuals with previous law enforcement experience, Cangelosi said. But installing new ICE agents will take time, he said, as the training course for new hires takes some six months.

Among the highest paid

So far, there doesn't appear to be a mass exodus from police departments on Long Island to ICE, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security. 

"We are unaware of anyone retiring from the department to pursue other employment; That is not a question asked during our [outgoing] process," said Nassau Det. Tracey Cabey, a police spokesperson, in an email.

In response to a Newsday inquiry, a Suffolk police spokesperson said in an email: "The department has not experienced an increase in retirements and we do not track the plans of retirees following their departure from the department."

Lou Civello, the president of the Suffolk County Police Department's largest union, the Police Benevolent Association, said in an interview that Suffolk police officers "very rarely leave for other positions." He said there have been 98 retirements so far this year.

"I've heard of no officers from Suffolk County leaving to join ICE at this point," said Civello, who noted that Suffolk's generous compensation and strong community support make it an attractive career destination.

Both the Nassau and Suffolk police departments are among the highest paid in the country. Suffolk's most recent police contract, agreed upon earlier this year, secured a $189,801 salary after nine years of employment.

"They'll have much better luck poaching from New York City than Suffolk," Civello said. "This job is a great job. We're treated well by the elected officials here. They tend to have our back, which is almost more important than the pay and benefits. And the community has our back. They are very supportive of the police, allowing us to do our job, which keeps morale at a high level."

The NYPD's press office did not respond to a request for comment.

Law enforcement opportunities

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a strong Trump ally, said in a statement that he would welcome applicants to the Nassau police department who don't get hired due to the hyper competitive nature of the process to try ICE. Some 13,000 applicants took the last police test in Nassau in 2024, Newsday has reported.

Blakeman said he plans to hire another 100 police officers in the coming months.

"We encourage the recruitment of all law enforcement job opportunities here in Nassau County," Blakeman said. "The list to be hired as a Nassau County Police Officer is very long and many of those who will not make the cut should explore opportunities with other federal, state and local agencies."

The so-called "Big Beautiful Bill" passed by the Republican-controlled Congress this summer included $76.5 billion in new ICE funding to pay for increased deportations, The Associated Press has reported.

ICE, in its recruitment efforts, has attempted to appeal to patriotism. Recruiting posters say: "Defend the homeland." ICE held a career expo for deportation officers and attorneys at a stadium in Arlington, Texas, this week.

"Your country is calling you to serve at ICE," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement announcing the effort in late July. "In the wake of the Biden administration's failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country."

Noem said in a recent Fox News interview that the agency has lifted its age cap of 40 and also lowered its hiring eligibility age from 21 to 18. 

Arrest quotas, overworked agents

The increase in ICE activity in communities across the country, including ICE arrests near schools, houses of worship and other public places, has divided Americans. While some have cheered the effort to remove people who ICE says lack legal status, others have squirmed at the images of tearful people without any criminal records being arrested by masked agents. Some have questioned why the administration is not concentrating its efforts solely on those convicted of violent crimes.  

And recent media reports have painted the job's working conditions as less than ideal.

A banner headline earlier this week on the Washington-insider website Drudge Report blared, "ICE Workers Melting Under Stress," with links to stories from Reuters and the British publication The Independent, which featured reporting from anonymous ICE agents complaining about arrest quotas and being overworked.

Former NYPD Det. Joseph Giacalone, an adjunct professor at Penn State University, said he could see the NYPD recruitment and retention efforts, which have included lowering its college credit requirement in order to increase the hiring pool, being hurt by the ICE efforts. 

"I think there's about a next to zero chance Nassau or Suffolk cops would leave their current jobs," Giacalone said. "They're one of, if not the most, highest paid police departments in the country. The working conditions are pretty good. They have a lot of support from the public in doing their jobs — everything New York City cops don't have."

But the atmosphere at ICE, and the number of job openings, could change rapidly, Giacalone said, if in three years a new presidential administration with different priorities takes over and decides to institute its own DOGE-like job cuts at the agency.

"The only concern those individuals could have, is things could be good for the next few years," he said, "but if a new administration with an entirely different ideology comes in ..."