Key Takeaways
• USCIS employees are asked to volunteer for 60-day assignments with ICE starting March 10, 2025, to address staffing shortages.
• Volunteers must have relevant immigration experience; roles include detainee processing, record verification, and supporting ICE enforcement operations.
• USCIS workforce reallocation may worsen immigration application backlogs, while ICE gains capacity for larger-scale workplace enforcement and deportation actions.
The announcement that USCIS employees are being asked to volunteer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations has sparked interest and concern across various sectors. Beginning March 10, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Acting Director Kika Scott has called on USCIS employees to take on 60-day temporary assignments with ICE. This decision highlights the Trump administration’s ongoing focus on strengthening immigration enforcement structures, including interagency cooperation within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Context of the Volunteer Request
In an internal memo dated February 5, 2025, Acting Director Kika Scott outlined details about the request for volunteers, emphasizing the need for workforce support at ICE. While this program is voluntary, USCIS management has stressed the importance of accommodating these assignments unless critical operations would be disrupted as a result. The program reflects DHS’s mission to address staffing shortages within ICE, especially in undertakings like detainee processing and workplace enforcement actions.
The volunteering initiative aligns closely with the agenda announced by Border Czar Tom Homan in December 2024. His plan calls for intensified immigration enforcement, including increased scrutiny of workplaces and larger-scale ICE operations. The timing of this announcement underlines the administration’s effort to scale up enforcement actively.
Details of the Volunteer Program
The volunteer initiative provides specific guidelines for participating USCIS employees. Assignments initially last 60 days but may be extended depending on ongoing ICE operational demands. The volunteer program primarily seeks individuals with relevant immigration experience. This includes USCIS roles such as immigration officers, immigration services officers, and refugee officers, as well as support staff skilled in data entry and case management. Volunteers may be tasked with supporting detainee case management, verifying records, and facilitating ICE’s operational needs during enforcement measures.
Additionally, the program prioritizes interagency collaboration. By pulling from the expertise and resources within USCIS, ICE is expected to boost its operational readiness across various states where enforcement actions will take place. Such measures emphasize robust interagency activity under the DHS banner.
Implications for Immigration Operations
The decision to deploy USCIS staff to assist ICE operations has generated considerable debate, particularly for what this signals about resource allocation and federal priorities in the realm of immigration. Several immediate consequences are likely.
Impact on USCIS Operations
Arguably the starkest interagency implication lies in USCIS itself. With employees temporarily reassigned to ICE operations, the agency’s ability to efficiently process immigration benefit applications may be impaired. VisaVerge.com notes that as of early March 2025, backlogs at USCIS were pronounced, with the Department of Labor processing PERM applications from as far back as October 2023, signaling troubling delays across the broader immigration system. The diversion of workforce resources runs the risk of further compounding these delays, particularly for critical benefits such as citizenship applications, asylum claims, green card issuance, and employment authorization documents.
The reallocation of USCIS staff also underscores the administration’s large-scale shift toward prioritizing enforcement over the adjudication of immigration benefits. When viewed alongside decisions like increased scrutiny of employer worksite compliance and the oversight of non-citizen registration, one can observe clear realignment away from service-driven components in favor of stricter immigration control mechanisms.
Expanded ICE Capacity
For ICE, the additional staffing contributions are expected to significantly bolster enforcement capabilities. Increased personnel may enable ICE to enhance operational capacity, conduct more frequent deportation campaigns, and develop larger-scale workplace enforcement actions. Notably, Tom Homan’s outline of DHS’s aggressive enforcement approach is built on existing legislative initiatives, methods of identifying unauthorized immigrant workers, and increased use of data-sharing among federal agencies.
With operations set to increase, there is also the likelihood of ICE resuming or intensifying activities like unannounced workplace raids. Such actions could particularly target industries historically reliant on undocumented labor and could impact communities throughout the United States. Expanded funding from Congress may further enhance ICE’s operational reach.
Broader DHS Collaborative Efforts
The movement of USCIS employees into ICE’s workforce comes as one piece of a broader set of actions being undertaken by DHS. As of February 18, 2025, ICE granted specific enforcement authorities to federal entities like the U.S. Marshals Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). This cross-agency support suggests that immigration enforcement in 2025 is intended to be an expansive, multi-agency effort aimed at both apprehending unauthorized immigrants and imposing compliance controls on employers.
Employer Considerations and Risks
For employers, this environment demands heightened awareness and proactive measures to mitigate risks associated with non-compliance or accidental oversight in hiring practices. DHS scrutiny of employer sites is expected to increase, which could include higher occurrences of both planned and surprise enforcement audits.
Employers should take the following concrete steps to safeguard their operations:
- Regular Internal I-9 Audits: Ensure all employees’ authorization to work in the United States is well-documented through properly completed I-9 forms. The I-9 is a mandatory employment verification form.
- Proactive Employee Training: Train team members, especially managers and human resource officials, on how to appropriately respond in the event of an on-site ICE audit or enforcement visit.
- Access to Legal Guidance: Employers should retain immigration legal counsel to quickly address complex compliance issues or provide advice should ICE conduct inspections. Legal experts can also guide companies on minimizing liability if facing penalties.
- Know Workplace Rights: In cases of workplace raids, employers must ensure constitutional rights for all employees are maintained. This includes understanding the bounds of ICE warrants or subpoenas.
By doing these things, employers can reduce the likelihood of issues arising from increased enforcement activities.
Evolving Enforcement Policies in 2025
The USCIS volunteer program represents part of a broader strategy to advance immigration enforcement under the Trump administration’s leadership. This strategy departs markedly from policies introduced under earlier leadership, such as the 2021 DHS Memorandum that curtailed mass worksite enforcement raids. The policy changes suggest not only a vigorous restart of enforcement actions but an effort to systematize the accountability of unauthorized employment nationwide.
The combination of greater ICE authority, increased personnel resources, and enhanced site inspections reflect a year in which immigration enforcement will very likely prove more expansive and impactful. For immigrant communities and their advocates, this environment creates additional challenges, particularly alongside requirements like expanded alien registration under INA §262.
Conclusion
The request for USCIS employees to volunteer with ICE shines a light on the multifaceted challenges facing U.S. immigration enforcement in 2025. It serves as a vivid example of the Trump administration’s efforts to prioritize operational enforcement activities over processing immigration benefits. While this interagency collaboration underscores DHS’s adaptive measures, it also raises concerns about potential bottlenecks in USCIS’s core functions, including delayed adjudication and added strain on applicants seeking U.S. benefits.
Employers play an integral role in adapting to these shifts. By training their teams, conducting compliance audits, and working closely with legal professionals, they can better prepare for an era of heightened scrutiny.
On the enforcement side, this initiative reinforces ICE’s operational goals and makes it possible to conduct broader, large-scale enforcement actions. This serves as a stark reminder that both individuals and institutions that engage with U.S. immigration systems must stay well-versed in any emerging legal or procedural developments. Further updates are likely as this program unfolds. For detailed guidelines and resources, the official USCIS page offers valuable information.
Lastly, while the program has received varying opinions from policy observers, it reveals the direction of U.S. immigration enforcement strategy for the foreseeable future. Stakeholders are advised to closely monitor the situation and assess its ongoing effects on immigrants and employers alike.
Learn Today
USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) → Government agency managing immigration benefits like green cards, citizenship, and work authorizations within the U.S.
ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) → Federal agency responsible for immigration enforcement, deportation operations, and handling unauthorized immigrant cases within the U.S.
Interagency Cooperation → Collaboration between organizations or departments, like USCIS and ICE, to achieve shared goals or address operational needs.
Detainee Processing → Administrative tasks related to managing individuals detained by immigration authorities, including record verification and case management.
I-9 Form → Mandatory document used by U.S. employers to verify employees’ legal authorization to work in the country.
This Article in a Nutshell
USCIS employees were recently called to volunteer for 60-day assignments with ICE, underscoring heightened immigration enforcement priorities. While fostering interagency collaboration, critics warn it could worsen USCIS processing delays. This initiative highlights a broader shift toward stricter immigration controls, reflecting 2025’s intensified policies. Stakeholders should prepare for increased scrutiny and operational impacts.
— By VisaVerge.com
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