NPR.

This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong.

And I'm Darian Woods.

In the last year, the Department of Homeland Security says 12,000 new agents and officers have joined

U.S. immigration and customs enforcement, or ICE.

This was an unprecedented hiring boom that more than doubled ICE's ranks.

The agency was aggressive in its recruitment efforts.

It waived age requirements and offered signing bonuses of up to $50,000.

The Department of Homeland Security says it's deploying agents to remove the, quote,

worst of the worst from the U.S.

This large ramp up has turned ice into arguably one of the fastest-growing and most scrutinized

workplaces in the country right now.

That's because its performance is highly

visible and at times questionable. The majority of immigrants caught up in this crackdown

have no criminal convictions, many have legal status, and even U.S. citizens have been taken into custody.

Recent surveys show an increasing number of Americans saying the immigration crackdown

has gone too far. Some politicians and community leaders are even calling for ICE to be dismantled.

Others say they need better training or a culture shift or both. Are those changes needed and

would they even make a difference? Today on the show, law enforcement experts and former officers

assess DHS's performance. The Trump administration's massive tax and spending law gave $750 million

to something called the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. These are the facilities that train recruits for

ICE, U.S. Border Patrol, and U.S. Customs, and Border Protection. Mark Brown taught at the

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