February 12, 2026
At least two dozen ICE employees and contractors have been charged with crimes since 2020. Their arrests include physical and sexual abuse, corruption, and abuse of authority.
A new review found that the recent arrests of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents show an alarming pattern of misconduct and abuse that could be on the rise. The review by The Associated Press found that at least two dozen ICE employees and contractors have been charged with crimes since 2020. Their arrests include physical and sexual abuse, corruption, and abuse of authority.
Some experts are now sounding the alarm that these incidents could increase as the Trump administration has emboldened the actions of agents while arguing that they have “absolute immunity.” One concern among law enforcement leaders is whether job applicants receive sufficient vetting and training before being assigned to field operations.
“Once a person is hired, brought on, goes through the training, and they are not the right person, it is difficult to get rid of them, and there will be a price to be paid later down the road by everyone,” Gil Kerlikowske, former commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told the AP.
High Profile Cases of Arrests of ICE Agents
The AP review found that while there are bad employees and crimes related to domestic violence and substance abuse in many law enforcement agencies countrywide, ICE’s rapid growth and their task of deporting millions are unprecedented and leave agents with immense power over vulnerable communities.
So far, at least 17 ICE employees and contractors have been convicted since 2020. Six others are awaiting trial, and nine employees have been charged in the last year.
Some of the most high-profile cases include:
- In December, an ICE contractor pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a detainee at a detention facility in Louisiana. Prosecutors said the man had sexual encounters with a Nicaraguan national over the course of five months in 2025 and instructed other detainees to act as lookouts.
- 20-year ICE veteran Samuel Strangle was arrested in Cincinnati this past December on charges related to attempting to strangle his girlfriend. His record shows that he abused the woman for years, fracturing her hip, nose, and causing internal bleeding.
- 41-year-old Alexander Back was arrested during a sting as he tried to meet with what he believed was a 17-year-old prostitute. He pleaded not guilty to attempted enticement of a minor. He is currently on administrative leave.
- An ICE officer in Florida was stopped for driving drunk with his two children in the car. He tried to avoid the charges by pointing to his law enforcement and military service. When that failed, he demanded to know whether one of the deputies arresting him was Haitian, then threatened to check his immigration status, the deputy’s body camera shows.
In response to the review, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that wrongdoing was not widespread within the agency and that the department “takes allegations of misconduct by its employees extremely seriously.”
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