ICE gets largest share of 50,000 federal hires under Trump, reflecting US immigration policy

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) received the largest share of the 50,000 new federal employees hired by the US administration since President Donald Trump took office. According to Donald Trump's top personnel official, the new staff largely in national security roles reflects the administration's policy priorities.

Scott Kupor, the federal government's human resources director, confirmed to Reuters that the bulk of the new hires work at ICE.

The staff changes are part of Trump's campaign to reshape the government while sharply cutting other federal jobs.

The administration hired new employees while freezing hiring and laying off workers in other agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The administration expects to shed about 300,000 workers this year, Kupor said in August.

Trump appointed billionaire Elon Musk in January to lead a project aimed at reducing the size of the 2.4 million-strong federal civilian workforce. Backed by Trump, Musk said the federal workforce had become too big and too inefficient.

Trump's administration dismissed employees responsible for enforcing civil rights laws, collecting tax revenue and overseeing clean energy projects.

About 154,000 employees accepted a buyout offer from the Trump administration. The buyouts affected a wide range of government functions, including weather forecasting, food safety, health programmes and space projects, according to former federal employees and unions who spoke to Reuters earlier this year.

The Trump administration has advanced an aggressive immigration agenda since taking office earlier this year. Trump has rescinded policy that limited immigration arrests near sensitive locations, including churches, hospitals and schools, and deployed federal agents across the US to ramp up such arrests.

Previously, he defended sending the military and immigration agents into Democratic-run cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and even the nation’s capital, saying the unprecedented operations are needed to fight crime and carry out his mass deportation agenda.