Madison Sheahan, a former ICE deputy director under Kristi Noem, made purchases that might not yield fruitful results. Some sources claimed Sheahan wasted millions of taxpayer dollars to buy vehicles that are not suitable for arresting illegal immigrants, as reported by the Washington Examiner.
These include 2,500 pickup trucks and SUVs ordered last year, with the ICE logo, name and motto branded on them. Now, top officials are looking for a way to scale back this large order and store the already ordered vehicles at agency facilities across the U.S.
Apparently, “ICE has never had marked vehicles,” one source told the Washington Examiner. They added, “In talking to people, they’re like, ‘We don’t want to use these, we can’t.’”
On top of that, DHS has claimed that assaults against agents have risen significantly since last year. This is why federal officers decided to hide their faces and identities while on duty, as the Washington Examiner reported.
Remember when @DHSgov under @KristiNoem’s leadership posted that really cool and badass hype video for their new ICE branded trucks and SUVs back in August of last year….yeah so it turns out they bought 2,500 of them and they can’t even be used smh pic.twitter.com/ekyiVRPg7U
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) March 10, 2026
These vehicles first appeared on a DHS recruitment video, according to The New Republic. The video featured a Ford Raptor and a GMC Yukon, with the agency logo on the side. It also had Donald Trump’s name printed in gold on the back window.
The slogan “Defend the Homeland” was also displayed toward the back.
The source also told Washington Examiner, “If leadership would have been consulted — leadership being the executive assistant directors, do you need marked vehicles, the people that have done this job would have said, ‘We don’t need marked vehicles, because you’re not going to use them.’”
They further added, “It’s ridiculous because you don’t want to advertise what you’re doing…We’re just hiding them in a parking garage somewhere because we don’t want to drive them. Who wants to drive the marked vehicles?”
DHS made a massive purchase of 2,500 new custom marked ICE vehicles that are now sitting in parking garages because nobody wants to use them: “ICE has never had marked vehicles. We don’t want to use these – we can’t.” https://t.co/zsupDsexpF
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) March 9, 2026
Another source acknowledged the need for vehicles within the agency. The agency is also hiring around 10,000 new personnel for its Enforcement and Removal Operations division.
However, the marked vehicles could be of little help because their visibility alerts people to their arrival. In many Democrat-led cities, ICE operations attract activists, who then inform others nearby of their approach. This further disrupts ongoing operations, as revealed by the Washington Examiner.
The Daily Beast had contacted DHS and Sheahan for comments, and a spokesperson issued a lengthy statement.
According to them, “Any allegation that these ICE vehicles are not being used is FALSE. ICE is a law enforcement agency, and like all other law enforcement agencies, has a fleet of vehicles that includes those with ICE branding.”
They further added, “…The safety and security of our brave men and women is, and always has been, our priority, and suggestions that law enforcement branded vehicles, no different from police vehicles, will jeopardize that is simply not the case.”
