New research reveals Latino ICE and Border Patrol agents join federal immigration enforcement not out of ideology or self-hatred, but driven by the same economic desperation that pushes immigrants across the border—a reality that exposes how poverty, not politics, fuels the government’s deportation machine.
Story Snapshot
- University of Notre Dame study finds Latino agents join ICE primarily for economic survival, not anti-immigrant beliefs
- Latinos comprise roughly 30% of ICE agents and over 50% of Border Patrol despite representing 18% of U.S. population
- Agents face severe moral conflicts deporting community members while Latino poverty rate of 27% sustains recruitment pipeline
- Research challenges stereotypes while revealing how federal agencies exploit economic hardship in struggling border communities
Economic Desperation Drives Recruitment
University of Notre Dame professor David Cortez interviewed over 60 Latino ICE and Border Patrol agents during 13 months of research, uncovering an uncomfortable truth about federal immigration enforcement. The agents joined these agencies for the same reason many immigrants risk everything to cross the border: economic survival. Agent Claudio “CJ” Juarez told researchers he was “literally starving” before joining, while single mother Sylvia Newman needed job security to support her family. These firsthand accounts contradict popular assumptions that Latino agents harbor anti-immigrant sentiment or reject their cultural identity.
Poverty Creates Federal Workforce Pipeline
The numbers tell a stark story about economic inequality fueling immigration enforcement. Latinos represent 18% of the U.S. population but account for 27% of those living in poverty according to Census data. Border regions like Texas’s Rio Grande Valley experience even worse conditions, with 51% Hispanic poverty rates and median incomes around $31,000. Federal agencies exploit these conditions by recruiting bilingual candidates who need stable employment. ICE and Border Patrol offer benefits and security unavailable in struggling communities, creating a recruitment pipeline that turns economic hardship into enforcement labor against those agents’ own communities.
Moral Conflicts Plague Latino Agents
Latino agents experience unique psychological burdens their non-Latino colleagues never face. During enforcement actions, these agents confront questions like “What if this was my mother?” when detaining immigrants who mirror their own families’ struggles. ICE values Latino agents specifically for language skills and cultural knowledge that make operations more efficient, despite public backlash. David Marín, ICE’s LA Field Director, acknowledges Latinos are recruited because “it’s good because they speak the language,” while community members challenge agents with pointed questions: “Why are you deporting your own people?” This internal conflict drives some agents to quit, though economic pressures keep many trapped in roles they find morally troubling.
System Exploits Shared Struggles
The research reveals how federal immigration policy creates a cruel irony: the same poverty conditions that drive migration also supply the workforce to enforce deportations. Professor Cortez, who grew up in Brownsville, Texas, notes that economic self-interest is why agents “join and stay,” paralleling the survival motivations of immigrants themselves. Latinos now outnumber Black ICE agents two-to-one and Asian agents four-to-one according to Univision FOIA data. This overrepresentation demonstrates how government agencies perpetuate enforcement cycles by recruiting from economically devastated communities, turning neighbors into enforcers while doing nothing to address the underlying poverty that creates both immigration and the agents who police it.
Unresolved Questions Remain
Cortez’s findings from 2020 remain relevant as of 2026, with no significant policy changes addressing the economic drivers behind Latino recruitment into immigration enforcement. The professor now urges Latino agents to leave these agencies and pursue community leadership roles instead. However, without addressing the 27% Latino poverty rate or creating alternative employment opportunities in border regions, the recruitment pipeline continues unabated. Both conservatives concerned about border security and liberals worried about deportation enforcement might recognize a shared problem: a federal government that exploits poverty rather than solving it, using economic desperation to staff agencies while ignoring the systemic failures that make such difficult choices necessary for struggling families.
Sources:
I Asked Latinos Why They Joined Immigration Law Enforcement – Latino Rebels
Commentary: The making of an ICE agent – TRiiBE
