ICE's Tricked-Out Trucks Might Boost Recruitment, but They Won't Make America Any Safer

The agency has spent millions of taxpayer dollars on custom SUVs, trucks, and recruitment ads.

Flush with cash from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has spent millions of dollars on flashy custom SUVs and trucks the agency says are essential for public safety and recruitment efforts to meet President Donald Trump's mass deportation goals. 

Government contracts made public and reviewed by The Washington Post reveal that ICE has contracted more than $2.4 million for Chevrolet Tahoes, Ford Expeditions, and other vehicles, as well as custom graphic wraps. The gold-detailed wraps will include the words "DEFEND THE HOMELAND," according to a social media post by the contractor, Maryland's AP Tinting & Graphics, along with the words "INTEGRITY," "COURAGE," and "ENDURANCE." 

The document submitted to justify ICE's $2.25 million contract to purchase 25 Chevrolet Tahoes—made without an open bidding process—states that "unusual and compelling urgency" was needed to deploy the vehicles "to the streets immediately to provide a visible law enforcement presence, support public safety operations, and reinforce recruitment efforts." A "full and open competition," the document continues, "would result in unacceptable delays and seriously hinder the Government's recruiting initiative." The document asserts that the requirement for these vehicles is fully supported by the OBBBA—which appropriated nearly $30 billion to ICE for, in part, hiring, recruitment, and retention efforts—and an executive order signed by Trump on August 11 declaring a crime emergency in the District of Columbia.

The graphic wraps were given a similar rationale, adding that "failure to approve this [contract] will prevent the timely wrapping of law enforcement vehicles essential for officers to provide support and a law enforcement presence in DC," to "mak[e] the District of Columbia one of the safest cities in the world." 

The cost of the new ICE vehicles is in addition to the over $700,000 the agency spent on a pair of trucks designed to mimic Trump's private jet and used in a Department of Homeland Security social media post on August 14. The wrapped GMC Yukon SUV and Ford Raptor pickup truck were pictured stationed in front of national monuments and government buildings around D.C., with the caption "We will have our country back." The trucks were also showcased in a recruitment ad posted on social media featuring music by the rapper DaBaby, with the lyrics "My heart so cold I think I'm done with ice (Uh, brr)" and "Better not pull up with no knife (Okay)/'Cause I bring guns to fights." 

The tricked-out trucks are part of ICE's ongoing recruitment efforts—including starting salaries nearing $90,000, a $50,000 signing bonus, and up to $60,000 in federal student loan repayments—to increase the agency's staff from 20,000 to 30,000 personnel and officers. The agency's recruitment site shows Uncle Sam with a caption that reads, "America has been invaded by criminals and predators. We need YOU to get them out."

The insistence that ICE must spend millions in taxpayer dollars on gaudy vehicles is ironic, considering the agency's M.O. of using masked, plain-clothed agents in unmarked vehicles to target and arrest undocumented immigrants and violate Americans' rights. But just as ICE's immigration crackdown hasn't really gotten dangerous people off the streets, neither will its marketing ploy protect public safety.