CA Police Officers Have Been Tough For ICE To Poach: Report

Despite hefty compensation packages offered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to police officers in California, the agency is having a tough time filling positions, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.

In recent months, the federal government has mounted a sweeping recruitment drive to staff Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of President Donald Trump’s push to ramp up deportations. The effort has gone as far as airing ads aimed at police officers during an NFL game, the Times reported.

Meanwhile, a billboard in Los Angeles attempts to attract officers: "In sanctuary cities, dangerous illegals walk free as police are forced to stand down. Join ICE and help us catch the worst of the worst."

But even with large signing bonuses, six-figure salaries and even promises to forgive student loans, the agency is coming up short when it comes to hiring police officers.

That could be due to several factors — chief among them, the fact that some departments not only offer a stable entry-level salary of nearly $120,000 in San Francisco, but also provide job security that experts believe ICE may lack in the coming years.

While ICE’s hefty hiring bonuses and perks are likely to attract recruits, experts caution that the lure may come with risks. The $50,000 bonus is spread out over several years, and the jobs themselves could be precarious as Trump both doubles ICE’s headcount and rewrites rules to make it easier to fire federal workers. That combination, former Obama official John Sandweg warned, could leave many new officers vulnerable.

“I think there’s a very good chance a future Democratic administration is going to eliminate a lot of these positions," Sandweg told the Times.

Another factor may be simply that the job is less desirable, Brian Marvel, president of the Peace Officers Research Assn. of California, told the newspaper.

“The vast majority of peace officers do not want to do immigration enforcement because that’s not the job they signed up for,” Marvel said. “We want to protect the community.”

Read more from the Los Angeles Times: ICE offers big bucks — but California police officers prove tough to poach