ICE paused an AI hiring tool after it wrongly classified untrained applicants as veterans, leading to premature deployments.

An AI tool used by ICE incorrectly classified applicants with titles like "compliance officer" or aspirations to join as law enforcement veterans, leading some without real experience to be sent to field offices without required training. The error occurred during a push to hire 10,000 officers by year-end, funded by a $50,000 signing bonus, resulting in misclassified recruits being placed in shorter online courses or deployed prematurely. ICE has since paused the AI system, initiated manual resume reviews, and is requiring affected recruits to return to the eight-week in-person academy. While field offices provide additional training, the incident raises concerns about the accuracy of automated hiring systems and the actual number of fully trained officers on the ground, especially amid heightened scrutiny of ICE’s expanded enforcement operations.