ICE Barbie is getting reinforcements.
Days after the Department of Homeland Security relaxed its rules for who could be an immigration officer, Secretary Kristi Noem said applications are surging.
In an interview on Wednesday night, Fox’s Sean Hannity asked Noem if the department was on its way to add the 10,000 new ICE agents it says it needs to achieve its eye-popping deportation quotas.
“In fact, as of today, [we have] about 110,000 applications in less than two weeks,” Noem said.
“It’s clear the American people are behind President Trump and these officers. They have their backs, and they want to be a part of what’s happening in this country by making it safe again,” she added.
The surge comes a week after ICE lifted its age limit on who could apply to join the agency, which was formerly 39.
In addition to allowing seniors to join the embattled agency, DHS also lowered the minimum age to join from 21 to 18.
Applicants will still have to pass a physical test, which includes sit-ups, push-ups, and running.
But if they can complete those challenges, Noem has advertised a host of new benefits to entice would-be deportation officers: a signing bonus of up to $50,000 and up to $60,000 in student loan repayments and retirement benefits.
The latter perks could be vital if the organization does stock up on teenagers and senior citizens.
To advertise its recruitment effort, dubbed “Defend the Homeland,” the agency has put out a series of action-movie-like videos that show immigration officers wrestling people to the ground, smashing windows, and zip-tying suspected illegal immigrants.
One ICE propaganda video that showed a K-9 unit pouncing on a man was hit with a copyright takedown request this week over its unauthorized use of the Jay-Z song “Public Service Announcement.”
Beyond the surge of applications, Noem’s effort to recruit the “best of the best,” no matter their age, has already yielded one new hire: 59-year-old MAGA Superman Dean Cain.
Days after he posted a social media video encouraging his followers to join ICE, Cain revealed he was actually practicing what he preached and joining the force.
The star of the 90s TV show Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman has experience fighting villains—of the fictional kind—but also claims to be a sworn law enforcement officer who is ready to hop into action.
Noem and her new recruit Cain have both echoed ICE’s claims that it is mainly targeting the “worst of the worst” for deportation.
“Terrorists, murderers, rapists, other violent criminals, cartel members, gang members, and drug dealers,” Hannity suggested, to which Noem responded, “That is exactly who we’re detaining.”
She went on to claim that 70 percent of the people ICE detained had criminal convictions.
However, data collected through public records requests show just the opposite: of the roughly 57,000 people in ICE detention as of July 27, more than 70 percent had no criminal convictions in the US.
Likewise, internal agency data reported on by NBC News in June showed that, at that point, ICE had detained just 6 percent of the migrants who it believed had been convicted of a homicide either in the US or another country.
Representatives for ICE and DHS did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
