Confessions of the ICE Agent Whisperer

"As immigration became one of the defining focuses of Donald Trump's second administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken center stage. Under the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, DHS, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and several other agencies, received more than $80 billion in additional funding, and in January the agency announced that it had hired more than 12,000 new agents."

"Even as cities like Los Angeles and Minneapolis have seen a surge of immigration officers descend upon them, DHS has maintained a high level of opacity around its operations. Officers carrying out raids and arrests are often masked and driving in unmarked cars. As enforcement has pulled in federal law enforcement personnel from across the government, it has become difficult to tell what agency a given officer works for, let alone who they actually are."

"Karl Loftus, an independent journalist who runs the Instagram account @deadcrab_films, started a new project following the immigration surge in Minneapolis called Confessions of an ICE Agent. There, he publishes interviews with people who work in immigration enforcement across DHS. He offers them anonymity and a place to speak their minds outside the structures of traditional media, and in return gets a glimpse of what the people inside the agency are experiencing."

Immigration enforcement has become central to Trump's second administration, with DHS receiving over $80 billion in funding and hiring more than 12,000 new agents in 2025. Despite increased enforcement operations in cities like Los Angeles and Minneapolis, DHS maintains operational opacity through masked officers and unmarked vehicles. While the agency remains combative with traditional media, individual ICE agents have largely remained silent despite potential reservations about their work. Independent journalist Karl Loftus created 'Confessions of an ICE Agent' on Instagram, offering anonymous interviews with DHS personnel including ICE agents and CBP officers. This project provides rare access to enforcement officers' perspectives and experiences during this significant period in immigration policy.

Read at WIRED