ICE drops nearly $1 million on truck upgrades to attract recruits 

WASHINGTON (CN) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spent nearly $1 million on flashy truck upgrades as the Trump administration pushes to recruit 10,000 new agents.

The Department of Homeland Security and ICE showcased the tricked-out vehicles in a series of social media posts, panning over large vinyl decals that included “Defend the Homeland.” On the back window, the trucks displayed a “President Donald J. Trump” sticker.

ICE posted a video of the trucks driving through Washington, D.C., over audio of a DaBaby song with the lyrics: “My heart so cold I think I’m done with ice” and “Better not pull up with no knife, ‘cause I bring guns to fights.”

Congress appropriated approximately $170 billion for immigration and border enforcement in the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill,” giving ICE an unprecedented $75 billion in additional funds.

According to the American Immigration Council, Trump’s mega-bill allocated $45 billion for construction of more immigration detention centers — a 265% increase to ICE’s current detention budget and 62% larger than the entire federal prison system’s budget — which could increase daily detentions to 116,000 immigrants.

ICE has carried out an intense recruitment campaign coined “Defend the Homeland” to hire thousands of additional agents to meet the president’s deportation goals. The agency offered a $50,000 signing bonus and student loan repayment to incentivize recruits.

The flashy vehicle upgrades and curated social media posts were billed as another tactic to attract recruits.

According to federal spending documents, the DHS spent $227,977 for the graphic wrap designs. The upgrades were made by Capital Wrappers, PC Fix Inc, Absolute Perfection and Advanced Graphix.

It’s unclear how many vehicles were upgraded, but the agency’s social media posts featured a Ford Raptor pickup truck and GMC Yukon SUV. DHS also spent an additional $505,710 on vehicle purchases from three car dealers, according to spending records.

The agency said these contracts will supplement its existing fleet of vehicles and were no different than other law enforcement branded vehicles.

“ICE is a law enforcement agency, and like all other law enforcement agencies has a fleet of vehicles that includes those with ICE branding,” a spokesperson said in an email. “Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE finally has the resources to grow its workforce to support ICE’s mission, and that will include all types of additional vehicles.”

The agency’s promotion comes as federal agents were deployed to D.C. at the behest of the president to confront crime in the city. Trump on Monday said he would invoke a 1973 D.C. Home Rule Act provision, which gives the president limited power to federalize the capital’s police force, citing “special conditions of an emergency nature.”

Trump mobilized about 800 members of the D.C. National Guard — with more than 100 members assisting in law enforcement activities on federal land — in addition to the 500 federal agents the administration ordered into the streets last week.

D.C. city leaders balked when Trump attempted to push out the city’s police chief. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit against the administration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, requesting a temporary restraining order to block the federalization of Metro Police.

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