The Federal Government's Latest Recruitment Pitch Comes With A V8
The U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, also known as ICE, has a pretty compelling staffing shortage. The remedy? Muscle cars. The Trump administration has bought a couple of 2025 Ford Mustang GT Fastbacks as recruitment tools, complete with gold ICE logos and ‘Defend the Homeland’ graphics to up their visual appeal.
Coming in at a combined cost of over $120,000, the pair of Mustang GTs equipped with a 5.0-liter V8 and 480 horsepower have been procured to serve as “a bold, high-performance symbol of innovation, strength and modern federal service.” The Mustangs will reportedly be used at recruitment events and career fairs to bolster the image of the ICE.
Fast Cars For Federal Jobs
This muscle car recruitment initiative comes as ICE faces significant staffing challenges amid aggressive expansion plans and low morale with job priorities shifting to civilian immigration arrests. The agency is clearly betting that high-performance Mustangs will capture the attention of potential recruits in ways traditional incentives haven’t.
The Ford Mustang purchase is part of a broader, expensive recruitment campaign. ICE has spent more than $700,000 to customize vehicles for recruitment purposes. Most notably, a Ford Raptor and GMC Yukon custom-wrapped to mimic Trump's Boeing 757. These flashy wheels are intended to create recruitment videos and generate social media buzz around ICE careers.
Government Recruitment Gets Creative
While using vehicles for government recruitment might seem unusual, federal agencies have historically employed creative strategies to attract talent. The FBI has long maintained impressive fleets of high-end vehicles for operational purposes, though primarily for field work rather than recruitment displays. Historically, military branches have also used displays of advanced technology to attract recruits. Though the direct use of luxury vehicles as recruitment incentives represents a more unconventional approach.
This recruitment tactic is reported to have been so urgent that the usual bidding channels were sidestepped. The contract was awarded to a dealership that had immediate inventory available, which also happened to be 25 minutes away from the White House. The Mustang GTs were delivered a few days after the request was made, no surprise considering the pony car isn't moving off dealer lots as quickly as Ford would like. It remains to be seen if the high-horsepower recruitment drives puts the right qualified people behind the wheel.
This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Aug 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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