Indicted ICE officer had been on the job a little over a year as Trump’s hiring surge comes under scrutiny

ICE officer Mario Alberto Morales turned himself in on Monday after being indicted last week in connection with running over a man who was on foot. The case has put Morales’ work record under scrutiny and called attention to the administration’s hiring surge last year to fill in immigration enforcement posts.

Morales, 33, was released on a $30,000 bond after a hearing before District Court Judge Matthew Peneguy in Harris County, Texas. He had been indicted Friday on a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The case has escalated criticism of the administration’s attempt to quickly increase the ranks of ICE officers to fulfill President Donald Trump’s mass deportation pledge, just as voters are heading to the polls for midterm elections.

Last year, several Department of Homeland Security officials told NBC News some of the ICE recruits had failed to meet the standards for hire, including having disqualifying criminal backgrounds or lacking physical or academic requirements. The DHS told NBC News at the time that most of its new recruits are former law enforcement officers.

Earlier this month, the agency said it would be retraining thousands of its officers who had received expedited training due to…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business