Overview
- ICE announced in November it would spend $2.25 million to buy 25 Chevrolet Tahoes with agency branding.
- Career officials say ICE has historically avoided marked vehicles, and agents are reportedly storing the new units rather than deploying them.
- The Chevy deal was reportedly awarded to GOP donor Rick Hendrick, and the incomplete order process limited broader vendor competition.
- Sources cited by the Examiner say Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski approved the marked-vehicle purchase linked to then-deputy Madison Sheahan, who left ICE in January to run for Congress in Ohio.
- DHS has claimed assaults against ICE personnel have increased by 8,000 percent, a figure it has used to justify added protective measures for agents.