Morale is plummeting among ICE agents over long hours, quotas and public hatred: reports

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Monday 26 January 2026 10:33 EST


Morale is “plummeting” among federal law enforcement officers tasked with carrying out the Trump administration’s aggressive anti-immigration operation, as they complained that long hours, ambitious arrest quotas and hatred from the public, according to reports.

While officers at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol, overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, said they supported the administration’s goal of deporting undocumented migrants, many of them have grown “disillusioned” with the tactics being implemented by leadership.

More than 20 current and former immigration officials told The New York Times of their discontent in the hours following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti by a federal agent in Minneapolis. It was the second deadly shooting of a U.S. citizen carried out by a federal agent in weeks, as officers clashed with protesters following intense public anger over the violence in Minneapolis.

“You’re not addressing the problem by throwing a 500-pound gorilla into these inner cities,” Oscar Hagelsieb, a former immigration officer and special agent, told the Times. “They’re causing chaos, and unfortunately it’s costing lives.”

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/ice-agents-morale-reports-minneapolis-shooting-b2907742.html

[tanyev]

1. ...

[niyad]

2. I thought this was The Onion at first.

Now that it appers to be real . . .FUCK YOU GODDAMNED WORTHLESS, MURDERING SCUM. ZERO sympathy for you monstrousl hate-filled excuses for human beings.

[orangecrush]

26. +1

[littlemissmartypants]

32. Sing, sister sing!!! ✊️

[niyad]

44. "second verse, same as the first!!!"

[DinahMoeHum]

47. "a little bit louder and a little bit worse"

[littlemissmartypants]

82. chuckle 🫡

❤️

[niyad]

83. !!!

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Arrest quotas ... well ain't that sweet

Seems a ripe plum for victims' defenses

[relayerbob]

4. Ask me if care what their morale is

Fuck them. They can go home and stop terrorizing people, and be happier. Although I suspect few people who sign up to be ICE agents are happy people to begin with.

[graycampervan]

66. Morale

Heard in one video protester was talking to an agent that said he'd do it for free.

[relayerbob]

72. Who needs morale when you have no morals

[TomSlick]

5. It's easy. Just quit.

Any ICE/CBP agent who hasn't quit already is a fascist goon.

[bluestarone]

24. Agree, just quit. BUT

Maybe get a spine and TESTIFY to rectify!!! Help STOP TSF's bullshit!!

[NYC Liberal]

36. The ones who got the signing bonus can't quit or they'll owe the entire $50K back.

Anyone dumb enough to join ICE is highly unlikely to have been financially literate enough to not spend it all. So they’re stuck for 5 years.

And my response to that?

[NBachers]

45. Yep - they're going to find out the money has conditions they can't meet and they will never see it.

[WinstonSmith4740]

63. Actually, they were stupid enough to believe they'd get it at all.

It's a 3 part pay-out, with absolutely no parameters. Typical Trump bullshit. It's what happens when you deal with the devil.
https://factually.co/fact-checks/government/ice-agent-50k-signing-bonus-timeline-696961

[TomSlick]

85. There is always the Turnip Rule to consider - you can't get blood from one.

If these idiot have spent the $50k, a judgment agaist them would not be worth the cost of paper and ink.

[Wonder Why]

67. And a co-conspirator to murder, assault, denial of civil rights, Constitution violations & crimes against humanity.

[NewHendoLib]

6. Let me help with their morale. Fuck. Them. All.

[ZDU]

7. Fuck ICE

Let them eat cake.... errrrr... let them eat their own

[Prairie Gates]

8. "inner cities"

[yardwork]

70. I noticed that dog whistle too.

[Solly Mack]

81. Yep. Very telling.

[niyad]

9. So you scum support "mass deportation", just not looking like

monsters and thugs doing it. Got it!!!

[FakeNoose]

10. They were hired to defend our borders, especially the southern border

They have no business arresting American citizens anywhere in the US. They have no business shooting at ANYONE. They need to get the hell out of Minnesota, and stay out of every state except Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and lower California.

[Attilatheblond]

33. Sadly, the official 'border protection zone' is within 200 miles of the US border. That means Mexico, Canada & coastline

Most Americans live within that zone. It's a band around the whole of the nation.

That said, I do not believe Minneapolis lies within that zone. It's just that Trump hates the whole state because they didn't vote for him and their governor had the courage to stand against him in the 2024 election.

[FakeNoose]

69. Yes I understand that ... but we have these things called "laws"

The Republican Party used to believe in that kind of stuff.

[Attilatheblond]

75. "used to" being the operative phrase

Now that party is the party of Chicken Hawks once more. And they are terrified of Trump.

This is no country for spineless blowhards.

[riversedge]

11. I fear unhappy ICE folks may become MORE trigger happy just to read their goals and bonus $$$

[travelingthrulife]

64. Especially when they know they will not be charged by the feds

[Scrivener7]

12. Sign up to trash the Constitution and then be surprised that people don't like you. This is how stupid maga is.

[Norrrm]

13. Quotas! It's so much easier (and safer) to arrest children and maids than well-armed MS13 gangs.

Even killing Americans is ok with this republican administration.

Trump, Fox, and Noem will even provide the excuses.

[SergeStorms]

106. Arresting American citizens......

counts for their "quota" too, so that's why we're seeing so much of that lunacy.

[Lulu KC]

14. Glad to hear it!

Also?

[awesomerwb1]

15. Don't believe this for one second.

[Attilatheblond]

42. I believe it for many of them. They thought they'd get big paychecks to abuse people, not see people fight back legally

Most are not the brightest people in the labor force and ICE offered good pay with potential bonuses to people, some of whom can barely read according to reports. One guesses many have less than impressive resumes and we don't know how many are pardoned J6 rioters who don't get along well with others.

Easy to imagine many of them didn't expect to actually WORK and be held accountable.

Let them go home to their mommies and daddies and snivel about how unfair it was that people got mad at them for being abusive, sometimes murdering, assholes.

[awesomerwb1]

61. "pardoned DC rioters"

Only make up a small part of the thousands of new recruits.

There are thousands or Proud boys and other more violent far right wing white supremacist groups and militias willing to do this "work" for peanuts as long as they have protection.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

100. It's not work to them.

It's pleasure.

[mysteryowl]

16. This is good news.

It's working!

The resistance.
The noise protests.
The complete lack of respect of these people.

Glad to hear it is getting under the skin of some of them.

Do you suppose they don't get their $50,000 bonus unless they bring in a certain amount of people?

Keep making it hard on them America.

[electric_blue68]

17. Well.....DUHHH!

ETA:

[Drum]

18. Too lazy to be soldiers, too stupid to be cops...

[LNM]

19. Boo fucking hoo

[CountMyVote4Reality]

20. "boo-hoo"

In the words of ICE they should understand.

[RockRaven]

21. Fuck them. They knew what ICE was when they joined. That is WHY they joined.

And before I get any "not all..." -- then fucking resign. Like people have done at DOJ, FBI, CDC, NASA, etc. You've had plenty of time, and haven't done it yet so that means you are a willing part of it.

They are fucking cowards who don't want the accountability that comes with being a piece of shit. Tough luck. You're a piece of shit, and nobody will ever forgive or forget that you are.

[slightlv]

35. I quit a job because of personal ethics twice...

both times the company was screwing the customers, and I refused to be a part to it. When I brought it up and saw no changes were going to be implemented, I handed in my notice. I had a 5 year old to support by myself, but some things you trust will work out because you did the *right* thing.

Hea, ICE... there's your answer. QUIT! Go back to the border states and stay out of our cities. Stop arresting, dehumanizing, and killing American citizens... in fact, quit killing everyone. You have no rights.

[ExtraGriz]

22. Screw you!

[ToxMarz]

23. I would imagine the morale of some is plummeting

But many, many (I believe a majority) of these agents are all in, doing exactly what they have dreamed of doing (not just to immigrants, but to all the 'woke/DEI/socialist/libtards' the rightwing media has been dehumanizing for decades to just this end. The difference is now they are encouraged, equipped, immunized (they think), and having the time of their lives. They will never stop on thier own, they have to be STOPPED! Elections won't happen soon enough, Congress and the Courts MUST DO THE SOMETHING. Protesting alone I don''t think will be enough.

[popsdenver]

91. Agreed TM

Any that aren't happy are disenchanted that they don't daily, get to go out and pound the living' shit out of some innocent person, or maybe, just maybe the chance to blow them away. And not worry in the slightest about ever being charged..........

They are described as BRAVE..........LOL.........Have you ever seen them go one on one? There are always five...six....seven...eight....nine....ten or even more on one protestor. All of them armed to the teeth, looking like they are in a war zone........ Look at their recent targets......a woman, a five year old child, and a male nurse. They state he was armed........what a crock........it was in his holster legally I might add, and ended up in one of the Sadists hands, before he was executed.

Most men who have a TWPC, (Teenie Weenie Peenie Complex) have big macho trucks to make them feel tough, these ICE, and even more so Border Patrol only need battle gear and a Assault Weapon to feel like a real man........

Great idea all you sadistic mother fuckers......if you're truly upset, throw off your gear lay down your guns, and go back home and get a normal job.....and change your voter registration to independent or Dem.......(The Republican party you MAGAots voted for, brought you to where you are today, associating with cold blooded murderers, which is absolutely despicable if you take the time to think about it)...
You are judged by the company you keep guys........

[Blue Owl]

25. Fuck 'em -- may they burn in hell

[Klarkashton]

27. Those bastards will NEVER get through 5 years of this

To capture the bonus. They are fucked. Tough ass.

[C_U_L8R]

28. Staying on the job...

Reveals just how few principles these homicidal goons have.
If they had any guts, they’d be blowing the whistle and presenting evidence.

[Ocelot II]

29. As well it should.

If there are any halfway decent people left in ICE, they should prove that they aren't total scumbags by quitting and finding honorable work elsewhere.

[SunSeeker]

30. In the words of your fellow ICE agents, "Boo hoo!"

Quit your illegal jobs, you miserable pieces of shit.

[chowder66]

31. Quit Piggy.

[bronxiteforever]

34. Mask wearing cowards. 281 days to Midterms.

[littlemissmartypants]

37. Fuck the weak whiners. They can ALL...

Take a long walk off a short pier shackled to their leaders and the entire Trump cabinet.

[Scalded Nun]

38. Demoralized due to 'Public Hatred'? Give me a fucking break.

They live for this shit.

Show me a dog owner who is saddened by his dog cowering when he comes home because every time he comes home he kicks the shit out of him.

This overlording, sadistic shit is orgasmic for these assholes.

[ChicagoTeamster]

39. FBI agents from Minneapolis field office should embed with ICE teams, record activity, and arrest for any illegal acts

They should also coordinate with local PD in case fed won't prosecute.

[slightlv]

40. We all know that everything with Maga and repugs is projection...

how many months and years did we put up with them calling us "snowflakes"... well, turns out of course, THEY are the real snowflakes! Can't handle people baking cakes for the "wrong" people getting married. Can't live and let others live. And now, they see absolutely what the entire country thinks of them and their "law enforcement" (to which they have no rights of action) and they can't take it. They're crying "oh, poor pitiful me"... and we STILL don't cut them any breaks. They just can't stand it; they're always the victims... the biggest snowflakes of all time!

[irisblue]

41. May they never sleep a full night in ease again. May their guilt eat their guts out

[Monsieur_Grumpe]

43. If they quit they must give back the $10,000 sign up bonus.

Probably spent it already.

[llmart]

59. It was $50,000.

[AverageOldGuy]

46. ". . . long hours, quotas and public hatred: reports . . . "

Sonsofbitches brought it on themselves and have no one else but themselves to blame.

Collect your signup bonus and STFU.

[Katcat]

48. Were they expecting

To be greeted as LIBERATORS

[littlemissmartypants]

55. Zing!!

[SamKnause]

49. Good.

I hope you are miserable.

I hope you don't have a minutes peace.

You are the enemy !!!

[riversedge]

50. When the recruits need the money, they will sign up--and stay and follow orders IMHO

[Vinca]

51. I hope they realize that when applying for future jobs, they can never, ever mention this one either.

And they'd better hope their names are never revealed because they will be ostracized from normal society.

[Goonch]

52. ;-{)

[Americanme]

53. Good!

Keep the momentum going, let them know they will be prosecuted and imprisoned after sanity reclaims government.

[snot]

54. Let's hope so.

Among other thoughts, the attacks on cities makes little sense, since they're generally politically blue and less hostile toward immigrants. It seems like it's the more conservative people in rural areas that tend to believe that immigrants are stealing jobs and wreaking havoc.

So if you're going to send ICE agents out, why not send them to the places where immigrants are most resented? Well, because there aren't very many immigrants there!

So rather than let cities go ahead and suffer all the supposedly horrible consequences of tolerating immigrants if that's what they want to do, the ICE agents have to go "save" cities from horrors that only rural populations fear.

[Raven123]

56. Their lack of morals is more concerning than their plummeting morale.

They could quit and rejoin the human race.

[niyad]

84. You are assuming they ever were?? Isn't there a scene from LOTR,

where the evil army is created?

[UpInArms]

57. Fuck all of the ICE goons

They are Nazis … there are no good Nazis

[Grokenstein]

58. That's rough, buddy.

Maybe shoving a senior citizen to the concrete or shooting someone in the back ten times will make you feel better?

[WinstonSmith4740]

60. So my first thought was

Boo fucking hoo, assholes. This bullshit on the part of ICE agents has been going on since day 1, when the first armed, masked thugs jumped out of unmarked cars and grabbed students off the street for writing editorials Trump didn't like. They knew what they were signing up for because they knew who was running the show, and what they would expect.

So your fee fees are hurt? The solution is easy. Stop being assholes. Quit.

Oh, that's right...but you THOUGHT you were doing the right thing...you were going after "bad guys". You know, the ones that are picking our crops, or looking for extra work on Sunday at Home Depot, or working in pre-schools, which is exactly where the bad guys hang out. Besides, you won't get the big signing bonus, right? This is Donald Trump you're dealing with here. You were never going to get it.
https://factually.co/fact-checks/government/ice-agent-50k-signing-bonus-timeline-696961

[Uncle Joe]

62. Bubbles being popped by reality with some of them. It happened to German guards/executioners who went insane

during the genocide prior to WW II from murdering their victims with rifle shots one after the other, never ending, and despite being supplied with drugs and prostitutes to dull their humanitarian senses.

However that system of mass murder wasn't fast enough for the Nazis; so they designed the gas chambers as a more detached, "efficient way" of committing the Holocaust.

So the *rump administration; knew the ICE thugs created by their policies might feel guilt from their actions, that's why they gave them masks to hide their faces, and identities while also unconstitutionally trying to place them above the law.

Thanks for the thread BumRushDaShow

[AllyCat]

65. Morale? They have no shame or morals.

F ‘em.

A whole TWENTY “officials”? Not impressed. Enjoy your trials and jail you criminals.

[Midnight Writer]

68. Russell Vought, our manager of OMB, says he wants all federal employees to "feel traumatized" every day

they go to work.

This guy is known as Trump's "Shadow President" and is one of the authors of Heritage's Project 2025.

This Administration is getting exactly what they asked for, and exactly what their supporters voted for, concerning their secret police officers.

Why aren't they all happy that these Feds feel traumatized?

[JohnnyRingo]

71. This is believable to me.

It does not inspire anyone to wreak brutality while the populous hates you so bad, so universally, that they have hide behind masks. Even kitchen table republicans shaming them.

I'm sure the money is good, but one can only put up with so many tears, jeers, and dejection.

[JoseBalow]

73. Aw, the Nazis are having a sad :(

Boo-Fuckin'-Hoo

[Pinback]

74. Then quit and get a useful job

like cleaning chicken coops or something. Oh, wait, you’d probably have to work with immigrants then.

[maxsolomon]

76. The Manner With Which

Last edited Mon Jan 26, 2026, 08:13 PM - Edit history (1)

Back when I saw a Shrink, he focused on that idea a lot: The manner with which you act, HOW you do something is so important.

Somehow, ICE and CPB managed to deport MILLIONS during Obama's and Biden's terms, with little objection from the public.

What's different now?

The Manner With Which DHS is conducting this anti-Immigrant pogrom: the Quotas. The masks. The cruelty. The violence. The unqualified, incompetent, paranoid hires. The politicized training. The politicized rhetoric from Leadership. The camps. The 3rd-country deportations. The direct-to-foreign-prison deportations. The billions allocated to CPB/ICE in a purely political bill shoved through Congress via Reconciliation.

[SamuelTheThird]

77. Morale seemed pretty good after they murdered Pretti

Clapping and joking

[Torchlight]

80. Quite the sample.

(clapping and joking)

[Dr. Shepper]

78. Then don't be a nazi

[fujiyamasan]

79. Honestly I'm not buying this humanizing bs

I don’t think most of them care. The agency went out of its way to recruit the worst of the worst and looked specifically for sociopaths with no moral or ethical qualms about kidnapping people (or killing them).

They looked for Nazis and got Nazis.

The only thing these folks care about though is that bonus. Withholding that would be the only thing that would hurt morale.

[Beartracks]

90. Caring about the bonus -- Reminds me when James Carville said back in the day...

... "If you drag a hundred-dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what you'll find." Except that the Trumpers knew what they'd find with the bonus being offered.

===============

[purr-rat beauty]

86. How about...

...they go f#ck hemselves with a chainsaw

[mike_c]

87. if you lie down with dogs...

...you get up with Nazis, paraphrasing my grandmother.

[Joinfortmill]

88. Well, Fuck Them.

[North Coast Lawyer]

89. GOOD!!!

ICE agents should be ashamed. The more they are shunned the better.

[Aristus]

92. Aww, diddums the crazed, murderous assholes get their fee-fees hurt?

Aww, poor babies...

Does everybody hate them?

[IronLionZion]

93. Then quit!

I hope there will be Nuremburg style trials for these criminals one day.

[SpankMe]

94. I'll concede they may be fed up with long hours and quotas

But, they relish the public hatred.

[COL Mustard]

95. To the ICE and CBP agents....

Don't start no shit, won't be no shit.

[The Roux Comes First]

96. Now, Suddenly, They Are Remembering That When They Were in Grade School There Was This Thing

Called (admittedly not by grade-schoolers!) "fellow-feeling" or "caring about others"?

Obviously suppressed by them for years, it will be tough to disinter it now and know WTF to do with it! They just got this chance to free up their inner asshole! With pay!!

[TBF]

97. They were under the impression that shooting citizens in the street

would be looked on kindly?

[BigmanPigman]

98. My, my...what a shame!

[AverageOldGuy]

99. Fuck a bunch of ICE agents

I'm praying that most of them suffer frostbite and lose noses, fingers, toes.

[NoMoreRepugs]

101. 20 "officials" in a sprawling organization like that doesn't exactly mean there is dissension.

More like people creating cover for their ass.

[TommyT139]

102. Many deserve execution.

The rest deserve the imprisonment they afford to others.

[regnaD kciN]

103. That's unacceptable...!

We need to make their morale plummet even faster and further!

[Qutzupalotl]

104. Stressed? Meditation can help you relax. Here, I'll guide you.

Let your eyelids go heavy and let out a long sigh. Take a slow, deep breath and slowly let it out.

Imagine you are drifting down a stream on a raft on a beautiful sunny afternoon..

*blows whistle, sprays bear spray in face*

[RainCaster]

105. The are there by choice

They can help their morale with a gallon of bleach. Chug it dude!