The Brief

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is recruiting retired federal workers to join its enforcement, legal and investigative units as a part of a broader campaign to beef up hiring.

The requests came in an email, which was shared with NPR and posted on LinkedIn and elsewhere online, and asked them to "serve once more."

"This is a pivotal moment in our country's history, and your experience and expertise are vitally needed," the email states, which includes a message on a new webpage.

"On behalf of a grateful nation, we proudly call upon you to RETURN TO MISSION and claim your vital role among the courageous men and women of ICE."

The push to rehire retired workers comes as the administration has also sought to downsize large swaths of the federal government through mass layoffs and other changes to long-standing norms. Immigration enforcement agencies have been among the few to be exempt from the efforts to encourage employees to voluntarily resign and hiring freezes.

The Trump administration wants to recruit 10,000 people for immigration enforcement using new congressional funds approved last month, helping it meet a target of deporting 1 million people a year.

The government has already deported more than 185,000 people during Trump's second term, a senior DHS official said in an email, but deportations are still unlikely to reach 1 million at the current pace.

Limited enforcement resources have been one of the biggest challenges to scaling up the pace of arrests, detentions and deportations.

The Department of Homeland Security's hiring spree particularly focuses on ICE, which conducts arrests and deportations in the interior of the U.S.

Bonuses spread out over three years

The agency is offering former employees a $50,000 signing bonus, split up as $10,000 upon returning, $10,000 if applications are submitted before early August, and the rest as $10,000 annually for up to three years.

A "dual compensation waiver," DHS said, will allow retired employees to continue to collect their new ICE salary while also retaining any existing federal benefits including pension payments.

The new hiring benefits, and the broader hiring campaign, come after lawmakers approved $76.5 billion for ICE last month, roughly 10 times its annual budget – with about $30 billion going specifically to hiring. The influx of cash sets the agency up to be one of the highest-funded federal law enforcement agencies; by comparison, the FBI requested about $10 billion for the next fiscal year.

But the new funds will also take time to kick in; they're set to be allocated through 2029.

DHS said it was distributing recruitment materials across major cities, colleges, job fairs and other networks. But it postponed a previously scheduled career fair in Phoenix, Ariz.

ICE started the administration with a little over 20,000 employees, about 6,000 of whom were doing enforcement and removal work.

The agency on Thursday said it's extended over 1,000 tentative job offers since July 4, without clarifying why they're "tentative." The offers included bringing back officers and agents who retired under the previous administration, according to a statement.

Growing ICE's workforce is historically challenging

DHS has three immigration-focused agencies: Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and ICE.

ICE has historically been the smallest. That agency includes enforcement officers who make arrests, attorneys who prosecute cases in immigration court and investigators who look into crimes unrelated to immigration such as drug or human trafficking, cybercrimes, and fraud.

The Biden administration kept about the same number of employees at ICE from the first Trump administration, according to an NPR analysis.

Morale within ICE has also historically been low, with slight improvements in 2024, according to the Partnership for Public Service's survey of best federal agencies to work for.

In its year-end report, ICE reported particularly struggling with growing its workforce over the past decade, and across administrations of both political parties.

Bonuses have previously helped boost recruitment for other parts of DHS.

During the Biden administration, CBP was able to recruit its workforce in part thanks to hiring bonuses, according to a Governmental Accountability Office report. Still, the agency struggled to significantly increase the overall number of applicants despite the incentives, a problem it also faced during the first Trump administration.

And while DHS focuses its recruitment efforts on enforcement, experts warn this could exacerbate the imbalance between how many people are processed for deportation, and how their cases are handled in the courts.

The current case backlog in immigration courts, for example, is nearly 4 million cases.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Warmer temperatures are on tap through Wednesday, but don't worry, cooling will return for Thanksgiving.

Low clouds and some fog will cover the beaches Tuesday morning, but that will clear by the afternoon. Along the Orange County coast, expect highs of between 68 and 74 degrees. For L.A. County, highs will be from 70 to 78 degrees.

More inland, valley communities will see highs of up to 81 degrees in some areas. Temperatures for the Inland Empire will range from 74 to 80 degrees.

In Coachella Valley, expect daytime highs of up to 79 degrees. The Antelope Valley will be cooler, with highs reaching 67 degrees.

Santa Ana winds forecast

Santa Ana winds are returning, which means it will be breezy all day in most areas. Gusts could reach up to 25 mph in the foothills, around 30 mph for the 5 Freeway corridor and Santa Clarita Valley, and up to 35 mph for the San Gabriel Mountains.

If you’ve noticed more wildlife visiting your yard in recent years — maybe digging up your vegetable garden or even drinking from your pool — you’re not alone.

A recent study from UCLA found that larger predators like mountain lions and bears are more likely to interact with humans and travel closer to population centers in drier years. To determine this, the researchers analyzed state data collected on reported property damage, nuisances, conflicts and sightings.

“It kind of runs the full gamut of how people interact with wildlife around their neighborhoods and their homes,” said UCLA postdoctoral researcher Kendall Calhoun, the lead author on the study.

It's not just P-22. Mountain lions across the whole state are forced to leave their habitats for survival.

(

Courtesy Kendall Calhoun

)

Different motivations for different animals

As you might expect, different animals might have different reasons for entering populated areas. But in large part, Calhoun said, it comes down to animals’ survival instincts.

The primary motivator for many herbivores is likely to be food. That’s because with less precipitation, there’s also less plant material for them to eat. (Don’t forget: even with all the rain we’ve had recently, much of Southern California is still in a drought.)

“ Deer and elk might be pushed to find those food resources in places that they normally wouldn't go, like agriculture, crops, things from people's yards, persimmons from your tree,” Calhoun said.

And as herbivores get pushed toward humans, the animals that prey on them are too. In fact, the species that saw the highest increases in clashes with humans were omnivores and carnivores, specifically mountain lions, coyotes, black bears and bobcats.

But even these animals have varying reasons for getting close to people.

“Mountain lions might be more inclined to look for supplemental food in livestock — that might be a sheep or a goat,” Calhoun said. “Black bears may be more willing to go into your trash to look for food to help supplement what they're missing in their resource-scarce natural areas.”

Meanwhile, animals of all kinds might enter a yard even when they have enough food to look for standing water.

About the data

Researchers analyzed data from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife that were reported over the last several years as part of a citizen science initiative.

One important caveat is that the researchers primarily looked at conflicts between wildlife and residents, and there may be differences in how these interactions are reported.

For example, you might not report a deer eating fruit from an overloaded tree as a nuisance, but even a peaceful black bear digging through your trash could raise alarm bells.

 "People also really value having wildlife living alongside them," Calhoun said. "It really is important for us to try to strike that balance where there's pros for both sides, without some of the negative interactions that come with living in close proximity with wildlife species."

Learn more about human-wildlife interactions

There’s more background on the research on UCLA’s website, and you can find the full study here.

You can also learn much more about interactions between humans and wildlife in LAist’s Imperfect Paradise podcast series, “Lions, Coyotes, & Bears.”

Low-cost internet service will soon roll out in parts of L.A. County at the end of this year, and organizers say eligible households can sign up for alerts when the service becomes available.

The service — a partnership between L.A. County and internet provider WeLink — is the latest project from the county’s “Delete the Divide,” an initiative meant to bridge the digital divide in underserved neighborhoods.

Major funding for the project comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, as well as a grant from the California Public Utilities Commission.

It’s badly needed

About 23%, or more than 20,000, households in the East L.A. and Boyle Heights area don’t have home internet, according to Delete the Divide.

The service will also soon be coming to South L.A., where more than 40,000 households were identified as lacking home internet.

What you need to know

There will be different plans available — including low-income, market-rate and small business options — at fixed prices. The low-cost plan will start at $25 per month for qualifying families. Those who don’t qualify could also purchase plans starting at $65 a month. Monthly rates are fixed until at least September 2027.

Every plan includes unlimited data, a router and parental controls.

Low-cost internet service will soon roll out in South L.A. at the end of this year.

(

Courtesy of L.A. County

)

Low-cost internet service will soon roll out in parts of East L.A. and Boyle Heights at the end of this year.

(

Courtesy of L.A. County

)

How it works 

WeLink will install a Wi-Fi router inside a home and a 4-inch radio on the roof to connect the household to the internet.

Interested households can sign up for updates and be notified by WeLink when service is available here.