In 2021, immigration enforcement agencies had eight times as many staff as labor standards agencies: Annual full-time equivalent staffing levels at immigration and labor standards enforcement agencies, 2012–2021
Immigration enforcement | Labor standards enforcement | |
---|---|---|
2012 | 81,127 | 12,288 |
2013 | 79,373 | 12,297 |
2014 | 80,228 | 11,918 |
2015 | 78,669 | 11,744 |
2016 | 78,585 | 11,465 |
2017 | 77,845 | 11,188 |
2018 | 78,645 | 10,419 |
2019 | 81,112 | 10,843 |
2020 | 83,689 | 9,669 |
2021 | 78,938 | 9,337 |
Notes: The number of full-time equivalent staff reflects totals for the U.S. government’s fiscal year (October 1 to September 30).
Notes: The number of full-time equivalent staff reflects totals for the U.S. government’s fiscal year (October 1 to September 30). The immigration enforcement staffing total for 2012 includes personnel at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program. Immigration enforcement staffing totals for 2013 to 2018 include staff at CBP and ICE. Immigration enforcement totals for 2019 to 2021 include staff at CBP, ICE, and the Office of Biometric Identity Management. Totals for labor standards enforcement include appropriations for all subagencies, administrations, and offices of the U.S. Department of Labor considers for “worker protection” in budget documents, including the Employee Benefits Security Administration, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, Wage and Hour Division, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Office of Labor-Management Standards, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Mine Safety and Health Administration, and the Office of the Solicitor, in addition to two other agencies not within the Department of Labor: the National Labor Relations Board and the National Mediation Board.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Fiscal Year 2023—Department of Labor, Budget in Brief and Archived Budgets, fiscal years 2012–2022; National Mediation Board, Congressional Justifications, fiscal years 2014–2023; National Labor Relations Board, Performance Budget Justification, fiscal years 2012–2023; and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, DHS Budget, Congressional Budget Justification for Fiscal Years 2012–2023.
This chart appears in:
- Threatening migrants and shortchanging workers: Immigration is the government’s top federal law enforcement priority, while labor standards enforcement agencies are starved for funding and too understaffed to adequately protect workers
- Costa charts for Senate testimony 2023 in order DO NOT USE
- Testimony prepared for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary for a hearing on ‘From Farm to Table, Immigrant Workers Get the Job Done’