As the mass deportation efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration continued to dominate headlines in July 2025, a rumor that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offers student loan repayment programs as part of its benefit package circulated online.
Users on social media, particularly on X (archived, archived, archived) and Instagram (archived, archived), shared the claim, with some adding comments like, "Cannot even make up something so hypocritical."
The rumor emerged as critics scrutinized Trump's directive to hire 10,000 new agents given the history of difficulty filling the roles.
For example, MSNBC reported that "when ICE tried to hire 10,000 more officers during the first Trump administration, a 2017 report by DHS' inspector general found that a net increase of that size would require interviewing half a million people."
However, the White House claimed the administration's "One Big Beautiful Bill" budget plan would provide the necessary funding to "ensure that the invasion we witnessed as a nation under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris never happens again."
They're forgiving your student loans if you join ICE.
Cannot even make up something so hypocritical pic.twitter.com/EJi0KhUmtP— B.W. Carlin (@BaileyCarlin) July 30, 2025
The claim that ICE offers student loan repayment options is true. A news release published July 29, 2025, on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) website listed "student loan repayment and forgiveness options" as part of its "robust package of federal law enforcement incentives," which also included "a maximum $50,000 signing bonus" and "enhanced retirement benefits."
"Your country is calling you to serve at ICE. In the wake of the Biden administration's failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country," said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in the news release. "This is a defining moment in our nation's history. Your skills, your experience, and your courage have never been more essential. Together, we must defend the homeland."
While the July 2025 release was in support of a new "campaign to recruit brave and heroic Americans to join ICE as federal law enforcement agents and remove the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from America's streets," student loan repayment has been part of ICE's benefits package since at least 2008.
An internal ICE document dated Jan. 3, 2008, was labeled the "originating and establishing directive for ICE policy on repayment of student loans for recruitment" and established "policy and procedures for repaying certain federally insured student loans made by educational institutions or banks and other private lenders as long as the employee agrees to remain in service for at least 36 months."
An ICE memo issued in June 2021 pointed to an addendum signed by then-Acting Director Tae Johnson that revised the program "to include the option of student loan repayments for retention purposes, which was not previously an option."
The memo further clarified, "The management decision to offer student loan repayment is an individual compensation determination made on a case-by-case basis, organizational need, specific case justification, and budgetary limitations."
According to the policy, "Nominating supervisors may consider eligible employees for a federally insured student loan repayment benefit up to $10,000 per calendar year, with a $60,000 agency maximum per employee. More than one loan may be repaid if the combined repayments do not exceed these limits."
Further, the policy listed specific requirements for eligibility, which differ depending on whether the repayment program is intended for recruitment or retention.
For recruitment purposes, the policy stated "federally insured student loan repayment may be authorized to recruit a prospective employee where":
a) There is a determination that, in the absence of federally insured student loan repayment benefits, ICE would have difficulty filling a position with a highly qualified candidate who is not currently employed by ICE;
b) The difficulty filling the position must be documented in writing and the criteria used to determine the amount of the federally insured student loan repayment benefit offered must be articulated; and
c) The authorization for federally insured student loan repayment, including the amount to be paid, must be completed before the employee enters on duty.
For retention purposes, the policy stated "Federally insured student loan repayment may be authorized to retain an eligible employee in a position where":
a) There is a determination that in the absence of federally insured student loan repayment benefits, the highly-qualified eligible employee is likely to leave ICE for employment outside of Federal service. It must also be demonstrated that it is essential to retain the eligible employee based on unique qualifications or a special need of ICE. In making this determination, the nominating supervisor must consider the extent to which the eligible employee's departure would affect the agency's ability to carry out an activity or perform a function that is deemed essential to its mission.
b) This approval must be made in writing and the criteria used to determine the amount of the federally insured student loan repayment benefit must be articulated.
c) Eligible employees must provide and submit to the nominating supervisor a statement of intent to depart the agency or Federal Government and/or documentary evidence that they are likely to leave the Federal Government (e.g., a selection notice for a non-federal job).
Despite the fact that the claims about ICE offering student loan forgiveness circulated heavily in July 2025 due to the ongoing mass deportation efforts of the Trump administration, the policy was already in place prior to Trump's second term.
Snopes reached out to ICE and DHS for further clarification on the student loan repayment policies and will update this article if we receive a response.