Naina Gupta

We know that they are looking...

you know, as desperately as possible to find people to join the agency and poaching from local police agencies is a fast way.

to do that, especially in the areas where they're looking to scale up immigration enforcement.

The American Immigration Council says the DHS is actively working to expand its ranks in parts of the country where enforcement is ramping up, including Minnesota.

Naina Gupta is the group's policy director.

She says her organization has been contacted by local law enforcement officials in the state who are frustrated by the recruitment effort.

Heard directly from local police chiefs and local police departments who are enraged by this

attempt to poach local police officers.

The DHS tells NPR that ICE has received more than 220,000 job applications in recent months and is on track to hire thousands of new officers.

Windsor Johnston, NPR News.

These kinds of enforcement efforts make people feel

scared to call the police.

They're scared to talk to law enforcement.

And we are hearing from local police leaders around the country that they are seeing decreases in reporting of crime.