An official who oversaw the vetting of Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruits warned final 12 months that the company was shortcutting vetting procedures for brand new hires, in keeping with a whistleblower criticism.
The official, whose identify was redacted within the doc, beforehand served as unit chief for ICE’s Workplace of Skilled Accountability. The criticism, submitted to the Division of Homeland Safety’s Workplace of Inspector Common in August 2025, was filed because the company was ramping up hiring of ICE brokers.
ABC Information obtained a duplicate of the criticism from the whistleblower’s lawyer.
“The systematic failures, detailed on this memorandum, represent a direct violation of federal legislation, DHS directives, and nationwide safety insurance policies,” the criticism states. “The deliberate circumvention of personnel vetting and clearance procedures has positioned DHS at grave danger of insider threats, infiltration, and reputational hurt.”
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is seen in Park Ridge, In poor health., Sept. 19, 2025.
Erin Hooley/AP, FILE
The official wrote that the company was issuing ultimate job gives “previous to any preliminary vetting by the personnel safety division.” The criticism additionally states that candidates had been being granted favorable “preliminary suitability determinations with out fingerprinting, identification verification, or credit score checks.”
“The result’s a historic reducing of vetting requirements the place correct danger mitigation is sacrificed to onboard personnel shortly,” the official wrote. “This creates a scientific vulnerability to infiltration, insider threats, and exploitation by adversaries.”
The previous official additionally alleged that “political appointees inside DHS have been granted nationwide safety eligibility with out present process the required background investigations.” The criticism cited Corey Lewandowski, a former senior adviser to DHS, for example, alleging he was “the topic of derogatory findings that ought to’ve rendered him each unsuitable for federal service and ineligible for nationwide safety eligibility.”
“These findings had been disregarded, leading to an improper clearance dedication,” the official wrote.
A spokesperson for Lewandowski didn’t instantly reply to ABC Information’ request for remark. Lewandowski served as a de facto chief of employees for former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem till she was fired by President Donald Trump in March 2026.
An officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Dallas, Texas.
Charles Reed/ICE
The official concluded that the first dangers from improper vetting embrace nationwide safety threats, insider compromise and the erosion of public belief within the company.
In an announcement to ABC Information, Kevin Owen, the lawyer representing the whistleblower, stated his consumer was “met with speedy retaliation by DHS.”
“He was interrogated, unjustifiably threatened with felony expenses, and positioned on depart for over ten months,” Owen stated.
“Our consumer was by no means offered with any allegations of misconduct or wrongdoing, nor was there any rationalization of a sound purpose for his exclusion from the office,” Owen stated. “Confronted with this stress and mistreatment by DHS, our consumer selected to retire early.”
DHS stated the company “doesn’t touch upon issues relating to personnel who’re now not with the company.”
“The ICE Workplace of Skilled Accountability diligently applies the correct personnel vetting rules, together with tips for nationwide safety, and evaluates all obtainable info for each applicant primarily based on these components,” a spokesperson for DHS stated in an announcement to ABC Information.
The whistleblower’s lawyer added that whereas DHS has “reversed its course on a number of the most harmful lapses within the vetting course of,” many improperly vetted brokers stay on obligation.
“We urge DHS to provoke a overview of all ICE officers who weren’t correctly verified to make sure they meet suitability requirements, and to take away these unvetted officers from lively obligation till they appropriately obtain clearance,” Owen stated.
The DHS spokesperson stated ICE coaching will now be prolonged to 72 days from 42 days.
