Journalist 'Hired' By ICE: No Vetting, Just A 6-Minute Interview

Is the Trump administration using tax dollars to give guns to unvetted candidates who might be criminals? What a surprise!
By Conover Kennard — January 15, 2026

Slate journalist Laura Jedeed documented the hiring process for a job at ICE and said she received an offer despite not completing the paperwork. As we've noted previously, Immigration and Customs Enforcement isn't properly vetting ICE applicants. And in one case, a recruit had previously been charged with strong-arm robbery and battery. Others failed drug tests, and some have criminal backgrounds.

Congrats, Ms. Jedeed, you have a job with ICE! Except, she writes, "The plan was never to become an ICE agent."

"The catch, however, is that there’s only one “Laura Jedeed” with an internet presence, and it takes about five seconds of Googling to figure out how I feel about ICE, the Trump administration, and the country’s general right-wing project," she reports on Slate. "My social media pops up immediately, usually with a preview of my latest posts condemning Trump’s unconstitutional, authoritarian power grab. Scroll down and you’ll find articles with titles like “What I Saw in LA Wasn’t an Insurrection; It Was a Police Riot” and “Inside Mike Johnson’s Ties to a Far-Right Movement to Gut the Constitution.” Keep going for long enough and you might even find my dossier on AntifaWatch, a right-wing website that lists alleged members of the supposed domestic terror organization. I am, to put it mildly, a less-than-ideal recruit."

She explained that after a 6-minute interview, she was offered the job. There was no paperwork or actual vetting. And she had legal marijuana in her system, which should mean she failed the drug test. Guess not!

ICE has no idea who they’re hiring. Period.

According to Laura Jedeed, a Trump critic who openly opposes ICE, the agency offered her a job after a 6 minute interview. No paperwork. No real vetting. Just name, age, and a fast track toward “as many guns and badges in the field as possible” her words.

— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) 2026-01-15T14:59:16.709Z

Kristi Noem's Department of Homeland Security denied the story, calling it "a lazy lie," insisting that she was "NEVER offered a job at ICE," but Jedeed brought receipts:

Well, dang. She'll never get a job with ICE now—or at CPAC. And ICE abuses are only going to get worse, especially with unvetted agents. Susie Madrak reported that ICE recruits include recent high school graduates and applicants who can 'barely read or write' as well as those who lack basic physical fitness and even have pending criminal charges.

Yes, Jedeed's account of applying for a job with ICE is highly credible. Homeland Security's, not so much.

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