U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is poised to become “two or three times larger than it was last year,” according to The Tennessee Star’s Lead Reporter Tom Pappert, who says a surge of 12,000 new hires is now translating into plans for expanded office space in Tennessee and across the country.
During an appearance Monday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert pointed to the scale of the agency’s growth following last year’s passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill.
“We are going to have an ICE that is now two or three times larger than it was last year,” Pappert said. “The Big Beautiful Bill expanded ICE funding… So now ICE has 12,000 new hires. They were only thinking they were going to get 10,000 new hires.”
He reported that Tennessee could receive two new ICE office locations, in Nashville and Knoxville, as part of the nationwide expansion.
“ICE is expanding all throughout the country, but Tennessee – it looks like it might get the rare privilege of having two new ICE offices,” he said.
He clarified that the planned facilities are administrative rather than enforcement hubs.
“This isn’t necessarily a field office… This is where they’re going to be doing office work. They need a desk, they need a set of bathrooms, a break room to do paperwork, et cetera,” Pappert explained.
Pappert said the delay in seeing new agents on the ground has been due largely to training timelines, which he noted are now nearing completion. With that phase wrapping up, he explained how ICE is now moving quickly to secure workspace.
“The companies are putting in their bids. The new offices are being found and purchased,” he said.
While acknowledging possible protests against the facilities in Nashville, Pappert suggested opposition may be less effective than in the past.
“I think you could see leftist protesters, but we’ve seen this elsewhere… and it does not work out well for them over the long term,” he said.
Pappert also pointed to tougher enforcement actions under the Trump administration.
“We’ve seen hundreds of arrests, people getting real charges under the Trump administration,” he said, referencing protests in other cities.
He added that coordination with state and local agencies in Tennessee could further limit unrest, saying, “You can only imagine what the U.S. government would be able to do when it actually has law enforcement partners… Tennessee Highway Patrol would certainly be involved.”
Tune in now to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
– Watch LIVE here on X
– Watch LIVE on YouTube / Rumble / Roku / AppleTV
– Listen on Spotify
– Listen on WENO AM760 in Nashville
– Read more at @TheTNStarhttps://t.co/mMThZ2LmIT— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) March 30, 2026
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Memphis Police Department” by Memphis Police Department.
