A fair amount of ice agents have been getting it for misconduct, investigators worry that it could get worse.

Investigators said one immigration enforcement official got away with physically assaulting his girlfriend for years. Another admitted he repeatedly sxxually abused a woman in his custody. A third is charged with taking bribes to remove detention orders on people targeted for deportation.

“Once a person is hired, brought on, goes through the training and they are not the right person, it is difficult to get rid of them and there will be a price to be paid later down the road by everyone,” said Gil Kerlikowske, who served as commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection from 2014 to 2017.

The Border Patrol doubled in size to more than 20,000 agents from 2004 to 2011 — six years longer than ICE took.

It was embarrassed by a wave of corruption, abuse and other misconduct by some of the new hires. Kerlikowske recalled cases of agents who accepted bribes to let cars carrying drugs enter the U.S. or who became involved in human trafficking.

He and others say ICE is poised to see similar problems that will likely be broader in scope, with less oversight and accountability.

https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2026/several-ice-agents-were-arrested-in-recent-months-showing-risk-of-misconduct/