A reporter has described how she was offered a position with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after a brief interview that she says involved minimal vetting. Laura Jedeed, a journalist for Slate, attended an ICE Career Expo in Arlington, Texas, in August 2025, where she documented the hiring process.
Jedeed, a former US army soldier who served two tours in Afghanistan, said the interview lasted less than six minutes and consisted of basic questions such as her name, date of birth, age, military or law enforcement experience, and reasons for leaving the armed forces. She claims she did not complete any paperwork or provide a single signature during the process.
According to Jedeed, she received a 'tentative offer' by email on 3 September, directing her to log into a government jobs portal and submit forms including a domestic violence affidavit and background check authorisation. She said she did not complete these steps but later received another email asking her to schedule a drug test. When she checked her application status on USAJobs, she discovered that ICE appeared to have formally offered her a job, with her status listed as 'Entered on Duty'.
Jedeed, who describes herself as 'anti-ICE' and critical of Donald Trump, said she turned down the offer. She suggested that the incident indicates a lack of proper vetting by the agency. 'If they missed the fact that I was an anti-ICE journalist who didn't fill out her paperwork, what else might they be missing?' she wrote.
The Department of Homeland Security has disputed Jedeed's account, calling it a 'lie'. However, Jedeed told the Guardian that the DHS 'probably has no idea whether ICE offered me a job, which is kind of the point of the article: they have no idea what they're doing'.
