1. United States
2. Utah
3. Letter

The Department of Homeland Security recruited 12,000 new ICE agents from over 220,000 applications by promising signing bonuses of up to $50,000. These agents are now reporting on social media that they received only a few thousand dollars after taxes, with one agent claiming they cannot cover medical costs due to insurance gaps. This broken promise represents a fundamental breach of trust with federal employees who accepted these positions based on explicit financial commitments. While I do not support ICE's mission or its enforcement priorities, a promise is a promise. These agents left other careers and relocated their families based on specific financial guarantees from their employer. The government's failure to deliver the compensation it offered creates recruitment problems, undermines operational effectiveness, and damages public trust in federal institutions. This failure extends beyond individual hardship. One DHS official described the situation at ICE as a "shit show," and morale is plummeting among agents facing long hours and high arrest quotas. When an administration cannot honor basic employment agreements with its own workforce, it raises serious questions about its capacity to fulfill promises to constituents. The pattern is troubling. The GOP leadership has demonstrated repeatedly that it cannot keep its commitments, whether to federal workers or to the American people. The Trump administration's previous renovation of the White House ballroom, initially promised to be "near but not touching" the East Wing, resulted in completely razing the FDR-era extension without required approval from the National Capital Planning Commission or Congress. This occurred during the longest government shutdown in US history when proper oversight was unavailable. I urge you to investigate why these signing bonuses were not paid as promised and to ensure that all affected ICE agents receive the full compensation they were guaranteed. Federal employees should not bear the cost of administrative failures. This is a matter of basic integrity in government operations.