Pentagon Civilian Employees Offered Volunteer Positions to Assist ICE Operations

The Pentagon is inviting its civilian employees to volunteer for temporary assignments supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs (ICE) and Border Protection (CBP) operations.

The Details: The Defense Department (DoD) emailed its roughly 950,000 civilian employees on Wednesday, informing them of an opportunity to volunteer for temporary assignments with ICE and CBP. The “Volunteer Force” would support federal immigration operations, with employees potentially deployed to immigration sites to assist with raids and patrols, managing the movement of detained individuals, and data entry, according to a federal job posting. 

For Context: The recruitment effort comes from a memo signed on June 1 by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that authorizes “the detail of Department of Defense civilian employees to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)” to support President Trump’s “priority of securing our borders”. The Trump administration has continued to ramp up efforts to cut down on illegal immigration and recruit additional ICE officers. 

How the Media Covered It: Fox News (Right bias) framed the volunteer program as a patriotic and positive effort to support Trump’s immigration operation. It mentioned challenges current ICE officers are experiencing, including an “830% increase in assaults,” and highlighted a recent increase in officer applications. The Guardian (Left) contextualized the program within other recent ICE actions, noting new detention facilities, and ICE agents accompanying local police for traffic stops. Patch also highlighted immigration efforts in California, including the deployment of the National Guard to quell immigration protests. 

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