Was anti-ICE journalist Laura Jedeed hired as deportation officer? Facts behind the claim

In January 2026, a rumor spread online that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hired, with minimal vetting, an independent journalist who had openly criticized ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 

The claim originated from the journalist herself, Laura Jedeed, whose article appeared in Slate, a left-leaning online news magazine. On Jan. 13, 2026, Jedeed posted a link to her report on X (archived). The headline read: "You've Heard About Who ICE Is Recruiting. The Truth Is Far Worse. I'm the Proof." Her X post read:

A few months ago, ICE hired me

I didn't sign and submit any paperwork. I'm real outspoken about my opinion of the Trump administration, and I am extremely googlable

And yet, there it was, in plain English. "Welcome to ICE!"

Several Snopes readers emailed us to verify the story, in part because DHS denied Jedeed's claim in an X post. Calling Jedeed's story a "lazy lie," the government agency appeared to concede that the journalist may have received a "tentative selection letter" — a letter informing her that she had successfully passed the interview stage but requested more documentation. This letter that was not a job offer, however (archived). The DHS X post read:

This is such a lazy lie.

This individual was NEVER offered a job at ICE.

Applicants may receive a Tentative Selection Letter following their initial application and interview that is not a job offer. It just means they are invited to submit information for review, similar to any other applicant.

At Snopes' request, Jedeed forwarded us alleged evidence of the communications she received from a federal government hiring platform and human resources at ICE. We reviewed the emails, documents, images and video footage.

Snopes sent that documentation from Jedeed to the DHS, asking for its response to the journalist's claim that ICE hired her as a deportation officer. The agency did not return our inquiry, though we will update this report if that changes.

We verified the domain names and links in Jedeed's documentation, confirming they lead to websites related to ICE and the hiring platform (usastaffing.gov). As part of our review of documentation related to an alleged drug test for the application, we confirmed the identity of an employee of a health care company who had supposedly messaged with Jedeed about the purported screening. 

Firsthand verification of Jedeed's account on ICE's hiring platform would help Snopes confirm her story. However, Jedeed said she lost access to her account after she declined the job offer, though she provided a video recording allegedly showing her navigating the tool previously. The internet address in the recording was legitimate.

There was no indication that the documentation Jedeed provided Snopes was inauthentic. However, due to the fact that we could not directly see her account on the federal government hiring platform, we could not give this rumor a rating. DHS provided no proof of its claim that Jedeed was lying. 

Jedeed's documentation

Jedeed provided a screen recording she captured while navigating what seemed to be an online hiring portal for ICE. She shared one version of the recording on X, with private information removed. Snopes reviewed the unaltered recording (archived).

Contradicting DHS' claim that Jedeed lied about being hired, the video showed a series of green checks in what seemed to be a tracker for her application. Per the clip, Jedeed reached the "onboarding" phase of the hiring process, past the "final offer" phase. At 0:36, the screen read:

5 of 5 Onboarding

Welcome to Ice as a . Your duty location is New York, New York. Your EOD [Entry on Duty] was on Tuesday, September 30, 2025. 

(Laura Jedeed)

Later in the video (0:49), Jedeed clicked on the "pre-employment" tab — the third phase according to the presumed tracker. The tab showed several tasks completed as of Oct. 6, 2025, labeled "physical," "medical," and "background investigation." The drug test appeared completed earlier, on Sept. 25, 2025.

(Laura Jedeed)

Jedeed sent Snopes a Sept. 3, 2025, email with the subject line "Tentative Selection Letter (DHA) -Jedeed, Laura -". This appeared to be the letter referenced in DHS' X post. It said she had been "tentatively selected" for the position of "Deportation Officer, GL-1801-5" in New York: 

(Laura Jedeed)

The email included documents and forms: a self-reported physical fitness test, medical self-certification and screening by a physician confirming the applicant's medical fitness for joining law enforcement. It said she would have to complete a drug test in order to be hired. Snopes found the physical fitness test, a self-assessment form, on Page 20 of a 2022 ICE handbook. We also found the same law enforcement medical clearance form on the ICE website.

Drug test and 'tentative job offer'

Jedeed also shared documentation related to the drug test, including two emails from a homeland security case manager at the health care company that works with the federal government, DOCS Health. That person, whom Snopes won't be naming to protect their privacy, sent her a reference number and request to do the drug test at a Labcorp branch in Brooklyn, New York, before 10:19 a.m. on Sept. 24, 2025, according to Jedeed's documentation.

Snopes verified the case manager has been employed at DOCS since November 2024, based on social media history and websites with employee data. The case manager's social media profile described the job as: "Organizes pre-employment medical exams and drug screenings for applicants to the Department of Homeland Security."

In her Slate article, she stated she had smoked marijuana six days before the drug screening and she was certain she would not pass it. However, Jedeed said she completed the drug test. The video recording of of her account on the hiring platform appeared to confirm she had passed it on Sept. 25, 2025 — the day after she was due to take it.

The case manager's email to Jedeed corroborated the information in Jedeed's screen recording she sent to Snopes. We contacted the case manager asking for more details, and we will update this report if we hear back. 

Lastly, Jedeed provided Snopes with a document that appeared to be a Dec. 8, 2025, email from "Human Resources Operations Center (HROC) Staffing Office of Human Capital, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement." This email seemed to acknowledged that she had declined the "tentative job offer" (we underlined the phrase in red):

(Laura Jedeed)

For further reading, Snopes previously investigated ICE's legal authority to arrest U.S. citizens.