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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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Democratic lawmakers have proposed a new bill that would impose a hiring freeze on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency at the front lines of the Trump administration's mass deportation plans.
The Freeze ICE Act was unveiled on February 6 by Representatives John Garamendi of California and Lizzie Fletcher of Texas, along with nine cosponsors.
Why It Matters
Supporters of the legislation say a hiring freeze would give Congress time to address concerns about the rapid expansion of ICE’s workforce and the agency’s capacity to maintain adequate training and oversight. The administration has launched a nationwide effort to recruit thousands of new ICE agents to carry out President Donald Trump’s deportation policy.
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In January, the Department of Homeland Security announced that ICE had hired approximately 12,000 new agents. The hiring push has brought renewed attention to ICE as enforcement operations expand. Critics argue that the pace and scale of recruitment, along with the agency’s messaging, could place additional strain on training, supervision, and accountability mechanisms at an agency already under the microscope after two U.S. citizens were shot dead by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis.
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What To Know
The bill would prohibit the use of federal funds to appoint or transfer personnel into positions at ICE until Congress enacts another law that specifically overrides the hiring freeze provision. The legislation says that no funds may be obligated to appoint new employees or detail federal employees to ICE roles on or after the date the act becomes law.
The legislation was introduced in the House and referred to committee for consideration. Since its introduction, it has not advanced to a full House vote.
The bill is backed by a group of Democratic lawmakers, including Representatives Yvette Clarke and Dan Goldman of New York, Danny Davis and Robin Kelly of Illinois, Veronica Escobar of Texas, Valerie Foushee of North Carolina, Sara Jacobs and Norma Torres of California, and Hank Johnson of Georgia.
ICE has received more than 220,000 applications from prospective recruits, surpassing the agency's original goal of hiring 10,000 new officers and agents within a year and expanding the workforce to about 22,000, DHS said.
The hiring surge follows enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025. The law provides a significant increase in funding for immigration enforcement, allocating roughly $170 billion for enforcement and infrastructure, including substantial funding for DHS and ICE. The money is designated to expand detention capacity and support large-scale hiring across the agencies.
ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have faced multiple allegations involving excessive use of force, racial profiling, mistreatment of migrants, and civil rights violations. The expansion of immigration enforcement operations has prompted concerns from lawmakers and civil rights advocates that oversight and accountability measures may not keep pace with the agencies’ growing scope and authority.
What People Are Saying
California Representative John Garamendi said in a statement: "Congress needs to pass the Freeze ICE Act to impose a hiring freeze at ICE and put proper accountability measures and procedural reforms in place to ensure the safety of Americans. I am gravely concerned about the steps Trump has taken to try and turn ICE into a secret police force, something that should never happen here in America."
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a press release: “The good news is that thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill that President Trump signed, we have an additional 12,000 ICE officers and agents on the ground across the country. That’s a 120% increase in our workforce. And that’s in just about four months."
What Happens Next
The bill is unlikely to pass in the Republican controlled Congress.
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