There is no verified public count of current ICE agents with criminal records
Public records show that ICE employees have been investigated, arrested, indicted and convicted in individual cases, and ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility publishes some historical enforcement and misconduct statistics. What the federal government does not currently publish is a complete roster or reliable current percentage of ICE agents who have any criminal record. That distinction matters because allegations, misconduct cases, arrests, convictions, contractors and current employees are not interchangeable categories.
Why the question cannot be answered with one reliable number
A genuine count of “ICE agents with criminal records” would require a clearly defined population, a clearly defined meaning of criminal record and a consistent date. Public federal reports do not provide all three.
“ICE agent” is not one workforce category
ICE includes Homeland Security Investigations special agents, Enforcement and Removal Operations officers, attorneys, professional staff, OPR personnel and other employees.
“Criminal record” can mean different things
An arrest, indictment, pending charge, conviction, expunged case and old pre-employment offense are legally and factually different.
Historical events are not a current workforce count
An employee convicted in an earlier fiscal year may have left government service, retired, been removed or moved to another position.
“ICE agents” and “ICE employees” are not identical terms
ICE’s public workforce includes several law-enforcement and non-law-enforcement groups. Homeland Security Investigations employs criminal investigators commonly described as special agents, while Enforcement and Removal Operations employs immigration officers. ICE also employs attorneys, analysts, mission-support staff and other personnel.
Current ICE leadership information describes a workforce of more than 20,000 employees, including more than 6,800 HSI criminal investigators and about 6,000 ERO officers.
What the available official statistics actually tell us
| Period | Official statistic | What it means | What it does not mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | 3,027 misconduct allegations/complaints assessed; 909 potential misconduct cases opened. | Volume of allegations and cases handled by ICE OPR. | It does not mean 3,027 employees committed crimes. |
| FY2021 | Employee criminal investigations produced 7 arrests, 7 indictments and 6 convictions. | Dated criminal-investigation outcomes involving employees. | It is not a count of all current ICE employees with any criminal history. |
| FY2022 | OPR received 3,232 misconduct allegations and initiated 718 potential employee or contractor misconduct cases. | Internal integrity workload for that fiscal year. | An allegation is not a finding, arrest or conviction. |
| FY2022 | OPR’s Investigations program reported 6 criminal arrests, 1 indictment and 15 convictions. | Criminal outcomes reported by the program during FY2022. | The annual report does not establish that all 15 convictions were current ICE agents. |
| FY2014–FY2016 | GAO counted 3,225 ICE employee misconduct cases opened over the three fiscal years. | Administrative and misconduct case volume. | It does not mean 3,225 employees had criminal records. |
The clearest published employee conviction figure comes from FY2021
ICE’s FY2021 Annual Report separates criminal investigations involving employees from criminal investigations involving non-employees.
For employee-related criminal investigations, ICE reported:
- 7 arrests
- 7 indictments
- 6 convictions
- 909 potential employee or contractor misconduct cases opened
- 3,027 misconduct allegations and complaints assessed
- 315 misconduct cases substantiated or referred
FY2022 data should be interpreted more cautiously
The FY2022 ICE Annual Report says the OPR Investigations program received and assessed 3,232 misconduct allegations, complaints and other communications and initiated 718 cases as potential employee or contractor misconduct.
The same program reported six criminal arrests, one indictment and 15 convictions during the year.
What the GAO employee-misconduct review found
The U.S. Government Accountability Office reviewed the employee-misconduct processes at ICE, Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration.
For ICE, GAO identified 3,225 employee misconduct cases opened during fiscal years 2014 through 2016.
GAO’s analysis found that the largest share of those ICE cases was not referred to Employee Relations for adjudication. Reasons could include insufficient evidence, an employee’s resignation or retirement, inability to identify a subject, or a criminal matter proceeding through prosecution instead of the administrative route.
Allegation, misconduct, arrest and conviction are four different things
| Term | Meaning | Can it prove a criminal record? |
|---|---|---|
| Allegation | A claim that misconduct may have occurred. | No. |
| Administrative misconduct case | An internal investigation into possible policy or workplace violations. | No, not by itself. |
| Arrest | A person was taken into custody or charged through a criminal-law process. | It can create an arrest record but does not establish guilt. |
| Indictment | A formal criminal accusation in qualifying proceedings. | It is a criminal charge, not a conviction. |
| Conviction | A guilty judgment or qualifying guilty plea. | Yes, subject to later appeal, sealing, expungement or other legal developments. |
ICE applicants undergo federal background investigations
Current ICE job announcements require applicants to successfully pass a background investigation as a condition of federal employment. Depending on the position, applicants may also need a Secret or Top Secret clearance, drug testing and other suitability screening.
Current ICE hiring notices explain that the investigation can include review of financial issues, certain criminal offenses and illegal drug use or possession.
ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility also oversees personnel-security functions and background-investigation programs for ICE personnel.
ICE policy requires employees to report arrests and formal criminal charges
ICE’s published Employee Code of Conduct states that employees must promptly notify their supervisor and the Office of Professional Responsibility when they are arrested or formally charged in connection with a violation of federal, state or local law.
Routine traffic tickets generally do not have to be reported unless the violation involves drugs or alcohol, such as a DUI charge.
How to verify a public claim about an ICE employee criminal case
If a news report, social-media post or public statement claims that a particular ICE employee was arrested or convicted, do not rely on the claim alone. Verify the underlying public record.
Identify the claimed jurisdiction
Determine whether the alleged case is federal, state or local and note the approximate date.
Look for an official government announcement
Search ICE OPR, DHS OIG, the U.S. Attorney’s Office or the relevant state/local prosecutor.
Search the court case
Use PACER for federal prosecutions or the appropriate state/local court for a state prosecution.
Confirm identity
Make sure the defendant is actually the ICE employee described in the claim rather than another person with the same name.
Check the final disposition
Determine whether the case ended in conviction, dismissal, acquittal, plea or another result.
Federal criminal prosecutions can be checked through PACER
Criminal prosecutions of federal employees are often filed in U.S. District Court. The federal judiciary’s official electronic court-record service is PACER.
If the federal court is unknown, PACER’s Case Locator can help identify the district where a case was filed.
Search federal court casesState criminal cases require the relevant state or county court
An ICE employee can also be arrested or prosecuted under state law. Those cases generally will not appear in PACER because PACER covers federal courts.
Use the official state judiciary, county clerk or local court system for the jurisdiction where the alleged offense was prosecuted.
Find state and local courtsFOIA can be used to request aggregate or releasable ICE records
If your goal is to research misconduct statistics rather than a particular person’s private personnel file, the Freedom of Information Act can be useful.
A focused request might ask ICE for releasable records showing, for a defined fiscal-year period:
- number of employee criminal arrests investigated by OPR
- number of employee indictments
- number of employee criminal convictions
- number of substantiated misconduct cases
- aggregate outcomes by directorate
- final public investigative reports where disclosure is permitted
Freedom of Information Act requests
Email: ICE-FOIA@dhs.gov
Mail:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Freedom of Information Act Office
500 12th Street SW, Stop 5009
Washington, DC 20536-5009
ICE Office of Professional Responsibility investigates employee misconduct
The ICE Office of Professional Responsibility is responsible for internal integrity functions, including investigations of allegations of criminal and serious administrative misconduct.
ICE’s public contact guidance lists the Office of Professional Responsibility for reports of criminal or serious misconduct involving ICE employees or contractors.
Report serious or criminal employee misconduct
Phone: 1-833-4ICE-OPR
Email: ICEOPRIntake@ice.dhs.gov
DHS Inspector General provides an independent complaint channel
The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General also accepts complaints involving fraud, waste, abuse, misconduct or violations of law within DHS components, including ICE.
Five rules for reading ICE misconduct statistics accurately
Keep fiscal years separate
Do not combine annual numbers unless the source defines the categories consistently.
Do not equate allegations with findings
Thousands of complaints can produce a much smaller number of substantiated cases.
Separate employees from contractors
Some OPR statistics combine potential employee and contractor misconduct.
Separate administrative from criminal cases
Employee misconduct may violate policy without constituting a criminal offense.
Do not infer current employment
A historical conviction statistic does not tell you whether the employee still works for ICE.
Use court records for convictions
When discussing an individual, confirm the outcome through the actual court docket.
What the latest public ICE annual report does — and does not — tell us
ICE’s FY2024 public annual-report page describes OPR’s role in professional standards, security, inspections and investigations. It publishes statistics for detention-facility inspections, PREA audits and office inspections.
The public FY2024 summary does not provide a current agency-wide number of ICE agents or employees who have criminal records.
Questions about ICE agents and criminal records
1. How many ICE agents currently have criminal records?
There is no authoritative public current count. ICE publishes some historical employee misconduct and criminal-investigation statistics, but those reports do not provide a current roster or percentage of ICE agents who have any criminal history.
2. Have ICE employees ever been criminally convicted?
Yes. ICE’s FY2021 Annual Report reported six convictions resulting from criminal investigations involving employees during that fiscal year. That figure is a dated annual outcome, not the number of current ICE agents with criminal records.
3. Does every ICE misconduct case involve a crime?
No. Misconduct investigations can involve administrative or policy issues as well as potential criminal conduct. A misconduct allegation or administrative case should not automatically be described as a criminal record.
4. Did GAO find thousands of ICE agents with criminal records?
No. GAO identified 3,225 ICE employee misconduct cases opened during fiscal years 2014 through 2016. Those were misconduct cases, not 3,225 criminal convictions or 3,225 employees with criminal records.
5. Are ICE employees background checked before hiring?
Current ICE job announcements require selected applicants to successfully complete federal background investigations. Depending on the position, the review can include certain criminal offenses, drug use, financial issues and security-clearance requirements.
6. Must an ICE employee report an arrest?
ICE’s published Employee Code of Conduct states that employees must promptly report an arrest or formal criminal charge to their supervisor and the Office of Professional Responsibility, subject to the policy’s limited exception for routine traffic matters.
7. How can I check whether a named ICE employee was convicted?
Identify the jurisdiction and verify the matter through the relevant court. Use PACER for federal criminal cases and the appropriate state or local court for state prosecutions. Confirm the identity and final disposition rather than relying only on an arrest announcement.
8. Can I request ICE employee-misconduct statistics under FOIA?
Yes, you can submit a FOIA request for releasable ICE records. Aggregate statistics are often a more precise research target than individual personnel or investigative files, portions of which may be protected from disclosure.
9. Where can criminal misconduct by an ICE employee be reported?
ICE lists the Office of Professional Responsibility at 1-833-4ICE-OPR for criminal or serious misconduct involving ICE employees or contractors. The DHS Office of Inspector General also operates an independent complaint hotline.
10. Can annual ICE conviction statistics be used to calculate the percentage of agents with criminal records?
Not reliably. Annual conviction outcomes and current workforce totals describe different populations and dates. Historical convictions also do not show whether the individuals remain employed by ICE today.
Official records and oversight sources
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — Annual Reports
- ICE FY2021 Annual Report — OPR employee criminal-investigation statistics
- ICE FY2022 Annual Report — OPR Investigations Program
- U.S. Government Accountability Office — DHS Employee Misconduct Review
- ICE — Office of Professional Responsibility Contact Information
- ICE Employee Code of Conduct
- DHS Office of Inspector General — Hotline Complaint Form
- PACER — Federal Court Case Search
- USA.gov — State and Federal Court Directory
- ICE — Current Leadership and Workforce Information