Kristi Noem’s ICE Recruitment Ad Excludes Many Military Veterans, “Willing To Serve”

President Donald Trump‘s domestic policy bill included $165 billion in appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security. According to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, a portion of the funds will help “to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens” in the United States.

(The bill gives ICE $8 billion through 2029 to hire new officers with $858 million more for ICE retention and signing bonuses and $600 million to “support marketing, recruiting and onboarding programs,” as Federal News Network writes.)

Noem, who said in June that she plans to hire 10,000 new ICE agents, today issued a help wanted ad on social media.

She wrote: “Your country is calling you to serve at @ICEgov. In the wake of the Biden administration’s failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country. This is a defining moment in our nation’s history. Your skills, your experience, and your courage have never been more essential. Together, we must defend the homeland.”

Your country is calling you to serve at @ICEgov.

In the wake of the Biden administration’s failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country.

This is a defining moment in our nation’s… pic.twitter.com/3MzFEeXHMF

— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) July 29, 2025

With the post are photos of President Donald Trump, ICE director Todd Lyons, a female ICE agent on duty, and Noem wearing an ICE hat and vest.

The link is directed to a webpage with the iconic image of Uncle Sam pointing ahead with the caption, “We want you.” On that website, potential applicants learn that they need to be at 21 years of age, and not older than 40 to apply for a job as a deportation officer.

More than one U.S. military veteran suggested that Noem waive the age restrictions. If she does that, they claim, “there will be numerous VETERANS willing to serve!” Another vet wrote: “Please take away the age cutoff @Sec_Noem. There are a lot of us who would like to serve but can’t because of our age.”

Not all veterans are eager to sign up, regardless of age. As U.S. Navy vet Steve Corley, evidently concerned by the criticism ICE officers have faced for wearing masks during what the National Catholic Reporter describes as “disappearing” people, wrote: “I’ve never been in a gang or aspired to be a thug, and I’m not about to start now.”