Camilla Jessen
Anti-ICE journalist ‘hired’ by agency makes shocking claims about its recruitment process.
Laura Jedeed said she attended an ICE Career Expo in Texas in August simply to learn how applications worked. Writing for Slate Magazine, she described the event as sparsely attended.
At the expo, she shared her résumé with a recruiter. Jedeed had enlisted in the US Army after high school and served two tours in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division.
She did not list her current work as a journalist, a role in which she has been openly critical of the Trump administration.
Brief interview
Jedeed said she expected her political views to surface quickly through a basic online search. Instead, she was taken aback by how little scrutiny followed.
She described sitting with a recruiter who asked a few questions about her military background and preferred work location. The interaction lasted about six minutes.
She then spoke informally with a deportation officer about available roles, before leaving the event.
Tentative offer
On September 3, Jedeed received an email offering her a tentative position with ICE. The message asked her to complete standard forms, provide identification and consent to a background check.
“If you are declining the position, it is not necessary to complete the action items listed below,” the email said.
Believing she had missed a deadline, Jedeed did not submit the paperwork. She was later surprised to receive another email thanking her for confirming she wanted to continue.
No red flags raised
She was instructed to take a pre-employment drug test, despite having used cannabis days earlier, which is legal in her home state of New York. She said she completed the test but never received results.
Soon after, she logged into USAJobs and saw she had received an official offer.
“By all appearances, I was a deportation officer,” Jedeed wrote. “Without a single signature on agency paperwork, ICE had officially hired me.”
Jedeed speculated that further checks might have followed if she had accepted.
“Perhaps, if I’d accepted, they would have demanded my pre-employment paperwork, done a basic screening, realized their mistake, and fired me immediately,” she wrote.
She declined the position. ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sources: Slate Magazine, AFP
