U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, seen here at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Department of Homeland Security hearing in Washington D.C. in May. FIle Photo by Anna Rose Layden/UPI | License Photo
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Wednesday that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is waiving age limits for new applicants.
Noem said in a press release the change in age restrictions has been made “so even more patriots will qualify to join ICE in its mission to arrest murderers, pedophiles, gang members, rapists, and other criminal illegal aliens from America’s streets.”
According to the “Join ICE” website, applicants must be 21 and over to join, with those seeking to serve as criminal investigators limited to being 37 and older, while aspirants looking to be deportation officers were limited to the age of 40.
“We’ve removed any of the age barriers,” Noem said in an interview with FOX News on Wednesday. “We no longer have a cap on how old you can be, or sign up at age 18 and join us,” she added.
However, all ICE hopefuls will still need to be screened medically and for drug use and must complete a physical fitness test.
Noem further explained in the release that due to the passage of President Donald Trump’s legislation bill, ICE has received “significant new funding: that will allow for new hires to receive a maximum $50,000 signing bonus, student loan repayment and forgiveness options, boosted pay for special agents, enhanced retirement benefits and overtime pay.
“Our recruitment efforts to hire 10,000 new ICE officers has been extremely successful,” she further told FOX News.
