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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 22, 2025, 4:00 PM EDTBy Julia Ainsley and Didi MartinezWASHINGTON — Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed new recruits into its training program before they have completed the agency’s vetting process, an unusual sequence of events as the agency rushes to hire federal immigration officers to carry out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy, one current and two former Homeland Security Department officials told NBC News. ICE officials only later discovered that some of these recruits failed drug testing, have disqualifying criminal backgrounds or don’t meet the physical or academic requirements to serve, the sources said.Staff at ICE’s training academy in Brunswick, Georgia, recently discovered one recruit had previously been charged with strong arm robbery and battery stemming from a domestic violence incident, the current DHS official said. They’ve also found as recently as this month that some recruits going through the six-week training course had not submitted fingerprints for background checks, as ICE’s hiring process requires, the current and former DHS officials said.Per ICE policy, applicants are required to pass a drug test and undergo a security vetting through ICE’s human resources office prior to showing up for the training course. The former officials said that process was more strictly adhered to before a hiring surge that began this summer. That process was meant to weed out disqualified candidates before they would be sent to training.Since the surge began, the agency has dismissed more than 200 new recruits while in training for falling short of its hiring requirements, according to recently collected internal ICE data reviewed by NBC News. The majority of them failed to meet ICE’s physical or academic standards, according to the data. Just under 10 recruits were dismissed for criminal charges, failing to pass drug tests or safety concerns that should have been flagged in a background check prior to arriving at training, the data indicated and the current and former DHS officials confirmed.The officials said there is growing concern that in the Trump administration’s race to expand the number of ICE agents to 10,000 by the end of the year, the agency could miss red flags in the backgrounds of some new recruits and inadvertently hire them. “There is absolutely concern that some people are slipping through the cracks,” the current DHS official said. The official said many of the issues that have been flagged during training only surface because the recruits admitted they did not submit to fingerprinting or drug testing prior to arriving.“What about the ones who don’t admit it?” the official said. In a statement to NBC News, the Department of Homeland Security said most of its new recruits are former law enforcement officers and former ICE officers who go through a different process. “The figures you reference are not accurate and reflect a subset of candidates in initial basic academy classes,” said DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin. “The vast majority of new officers brought on during the hiring surge are experienced law enforcement officers who have already successfully completed a law enforcement academy. This population is expected to account for greater than 85% of new hires. Prior-service hires follow streamlined validation but remain subject to medical, fitness, and background requirements.”A detail view of an ICE promotion as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Aug. 26 in Arlington, Texas.Ron Jenkins / Getty Images fileThe Atlantic reported this week on the struggle some ICE recruits have had with meeting the agency’s physical fitness requirements. The broader scope of issues and specific data have not been previously reported. ICE has been under pressure from the White House to increase hiring with the funding designated by Congress in the sweeping tax and spending bill that Trump signed into law on July 4. The agency has frequently lagged behind the White House’s arrest goal of 3,000 per day, which they have attributed to a lack of manpower. As part of the effort, ICE shortened the training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Georgia from 13 weeks to eight weeks. The training was later shortened to six weeks, the DHS official said.Recruits also are supposed to attest that they can pass ICE’s physical fitness test, which includes sit-ups, pull-ups, and running one-and-a-half miles in under 14 minutes and 25 seconds.Darius Reeves, who recently left his position as ICE field office director in Baltimore, said he believes the agency’s Aug. 6 decision to waive age limits so that older people can join has led to more recruits failing the physical test.“These new recruits are dropping like flies,” Reeves said in an interview after speaking with colleagues seeking to bring new hires into the agency. “And rightly so, it makes sense. We’re going to drop the age requirements, of course this was going to happen.” Nearly half of new recruits who’ve arrived for training at FLETC over the past three months were later sent home because they could not pass the written exam, according to the data. The academic requirement includes an exam where officers are allowed to consult their textbooks and notes at the end of a legal course on the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Fourth Amendment, which outlines when officers can and cannot conduct searches and seizures.A slightly smaller group was dismissed because they failed the physical fitness test or had medical challenges, though some of those sent home had made clear on their application that they could not meet ICE’s physical requirements but were sent to training anyway, the current and former DHS officials said. Fewer than 10 of the new recruits were dismissed because ICE training leaders learned from the recruits during the training program that they had pending criminal charges, failed their drug test or were otherwise considered a safety concern, the officials said. The three sources said the agency’s human resources office is overwhelmed with more than 150,000 new applicants that have applied since ICE began offering $50,000 signing bonuses in August. The HR office is rushing to clear new recruits, which they believe is leading to mistakes. “They are trying to push everyone through, and the vetting process is not what it should be,” said one of the former DHS officials with knowledge of the agency’s hiring.The current DHS official likened the pressure on ICE’s human resources employees to clear recruits to “asking them to pull a rabbit out of a hat.”Julia AinsleyI am NBC News’ Senior Homeland Security Correspondent.Didi MartinezDidi Martinez is a producer for NBC News’ national security unit.Laura Strickler contributed.

- Latest News - October 22, 2025

ICE has placed new recruits into its training program before they have completed the agency’s vetting process, officials told NBC News.

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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 22, 2025, 3:26 PM EDTBy Jason Abbruzzese and Corky SiemaszkoThe World Chess Federation said Wednesday it will investigate whether Russian chess champ Vladimir Kramnik should be disciplined for the disparaging public statements he made “before and after the tragic death” of American grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky.Arkady Dvorkovich, president of the worldwide organization better known by its French acronym FIDE, made the announcement in a statement to NBC News after many top players in the chess world accused Kramnik of besmirching Naroditsky’s reputation by falsely and repeatedly accusing him on cheating during online matches.Naroditsky was found dead earlier this week at his home in Charlotte, North Carolina, and so far the cause of death has not been released.”The chess community has long respected the achievements of GM Vladimir Kramnik, and his contributions to our sport are undeniable,” Dvorkovich said in the statement. “The same high standards that accompany great achievements, however, also confer a responsibility to uphold the principles of fairness and respect and to be ambassadors for the sport.”Dvorkovich did not say in the statement what kind of disciplinary action Kramnik could face if the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission concludes he crossed the line. But he acknowledged that chess has a bullying problem.Chess grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik competes in London in 2013.Oli Scarff / Getty Images file”In recent times, public debate within the chess world has too often moved beyond the boundaries of acceptable, harming not only people’s reputation but their very well-being,” he said. “When this happens, discussions can turn into harassment, bullying, and personal attacks — a particularly serious concern in today’s environment.”Emil Sutovksy, who is the CEO of FIDE, said in an interview with Reuters that he was “looking into” Kramnik’s public campaign against Naroditsky.Naroditsky’s death at age 29 outraged his supporters in the chess world, who said he’d been bullied relentlessly by Kramnik, a former world champion who has accused many players of cheating in online play.There was no immediate response from Kramnik to the FIDE announcement. But earlier Wednesday, the Russian chess champ insisted in an email to NBC News that he was the “subject of a bullying and slandering PR campaign” as well as ongoing threats to him and his family.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.Jason AbbruzzeseJason Abbruzzese is the assistant managing editor of tech and science for NBC News Digital.Corky SiemaszkoCorky Siemaszko is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital.

- Latest News - October 22, 2025

The World Chess Federation said it was investigating claims Vladimir Kramnik made “before and after the tragic death” of American grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky.

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Oct. 22, 2025, 2:26 PM EDTBy Erik Ortiz and Jon SchuppeAn Illinois man was shot dead while incarcerated in a federal prison in Florida this month, his family and officials told NBC News, a rare incident behind bars as guards largely are not allowed to carry firearms.Loved ones of inmate Dwayne Tottleben say they haven’t received answers from the federal Bureau of Prisons about how or why he was shot, more than a week after his death Oct. 10 at U.S. Penitentiary Coleman I, a high-security men’s prison northwest of Orlando.The BOP typically shares information on inmate deaths in custody, but there was no immediate release about Tottleben. Agency officials did not respond to requests for comment amid the ongoing federal government shutdown. The local medical examiner’s office in Florida confirmed Tottleben’s fatal shooting to NBC News. Donna Ford, a longtime friend who said she’s listed as next of kin for Tottleben, said the prison called her around 9 p.m. Oct. 10 to tell her he had died. She said the official offered no other details. It came as a shock, she said, because she had spoken to Tottleben, who went by DJ, just that morning for about 15 minutes. Tottleben, 33, had been serving 15 years for possession of methamphetamines with intent to distribute related to an August 2020 traffic stop in St. Louis.“He was in a good mood. He told me he loved me. He told me to ‘send pictures of the kids, give the kids hugs for me,’” Ford said of her children. “He said, ‘I miss you. I love you.’ There was no agitation.”The entrance to Coleman federal prison in Florida in 2008.Ryan K. Morris / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileTottleben’s father, also named Dwayne, learned of his death from Ford the following morning and spoke with the medical examiner’s office for Sumter County. He said he was in tears as he begged for information about his son’s death. “I was distraught. I didn’t know if somebody stabbed him. I didn’t know anything,” the senior Tottleben said.He said the office told him that his son was shot, but that still left him with questions.“I’m trying to wrap my mind around how something like this could happen,” he said.A prison spokesperson did not directly respond when asked about a deadly shooting at USP Coleman I or an investigation into Tottleben’s death. The prison’s website says visitation “has been suspended until further notice.”In response to NBC News’ questions, the prison sent an emailed statement saying that the facility was placed on “enhanced modified operations” Oct. 10, and that “wardens may establish controls or implement temporary security measures to ensure the good order and security of their institution, as well as ensure the safety of the employees and the individuals in our custody.”“In securing a facility, it is always the hope this security measure will be short-lived, and the facility returned to normal operations as quickly as possible,” the statement added.While there is a lack of reliable data regarding deaths in prisons and jails, fatal shootings are uncommon because guns are not routinely used to secure the facilities, said Steve J. Martin, a corrections expert who has worked for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and on use-of-force cases involving prisons.Prison employees can only carry firearms while doing certain tasks, including transporting inmates, preventing escapes and guarding security posts, BOP policy states. Wardens must approve any employees who carry guns. “If you have weaponry inside, there’s always the possibility that it can get in the hands of an inmate, which is the last thing you want,” Martin said. “Besides, there is so much other nonlethal weaponry that can be used.”BOP policy says that force against inmates should be a “last alternative,” and that deadly force may be used when there’s a “reasonable belief that the inmate poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury” to others.If the use of a firearm is “deemed necessary,” the employee “must shoot the subject with every intention of hitting ‘center mass’ to ensure the subject is stopped,” the policy states. “Employees will not attempt to shoot a limb which creates a lesser chance of stopping the subject and may pose a danger to employees, other inmates, or persons in the community.” Joe Rojas, a retired BOP officer and past union president at Coleman, said less lethal options may include stun grenades and pepper spray, as well as the firing of warning shots ahead of deadly force.Gunfire is rare at Coleman. Rojas said a fight among inmates more than 15 years ago led to staff members firing shots in the recreation yard. One inmate suffered a gunshot wound and several others were injured when prison officials said they ignored commands, according to reports at the time.The circumstances surrounding Tottleben’s death have baffled his loved ones. Even if his son was violent before his death, the escalation to gunfire is troubling, Dwayne Tottleben said.“When people get into fights in prison, they lose ‘good time’ credit,” he said. “They don’t lose their life.”Tottleben had a tumultuous upbringing, according to friends who wrote letters to the judge asking for leniency last year in his federal sentence.Ford wrote that Tottleben’s father had done time in prison during his childhood.“I feel like he did not really have a chance to learn to be on the right side of the law,” Ford wrote.A grade-school friend of Tottleben’s who previously suffered from drug addiction told the judge, “I have watched him struggle right along with me for most of our lives.”Tottleben was also deeply affected by a police shooting in October 2020, his family said.An Illinois State Police officer struck Tottleben in the back after he was hiding in a car and attempted to surrender, according to a civil rights lawsuit in which he sought $2 million for pain and suffering.The officers said they believed he was armed, but Tottleben’s lawyer, Jason Marx, said only a flashlight was recovered from the car. By late 2023, the suit was settled; the terms were not disclosed.As that litigation unfolded, a federal grand jury indicted Tottleben on the methamphetamine charge in February 2021, but for reasons that are not clear in court records, he was not arrested until May 2023. Separately, he had been serving time in an Illinois prison for burglary. Tottleben said he had “substance abuse and mental health issues” and described those, along with a brain tumor, as causes of his criminal behavior, a federal judge noted in a November 2023 court filing. He said that he’d had that tumor removed and stopped using drugs.In June 2023, a month after his arrest, Tottleben’s mother died from a drug overdose, Ford said.“He’s had hard times, but when I talked to him that morning, he was completely fine,” Ford said of their last conversation Oct. 10. “He did not say that he felt like he was in danger.”Tottleben’s family members have started a GoFundMe to pay for legal support as they “navigate understanding the situation that caused his death.”Robert J. Slama, an attorney representing Tottleben’s family, said he will seek an independent medical examination of his body as they call for “full disclosure and accountability” from the prison.Erik OrtizErik Ortiz is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital focusing on racial injustice and social inequality.Jon SchuppeJon Schuppe is an enterprise reporter for NBC News, based in New York. Michael Kosnar contributed.

- Latest News - October 22, 2025

The family of Dwayne “DJ” Tottleben, an inmate at the Coleman prison complex in Florida, is demanding answers after learning he was killed. Guns are not typically permitted in prisons.

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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 22, 2025, 1:58 PM EDTBy Berkeley Lovelace Jr.Ginny Murray says she and her husband, Chaz, are out of options for health insurance. In January, their premiums are expected to rise higher than they’ve ever gone up before, putting the cost out of reach. The Arkansas couple plan to drop their coverage, betting their savings will be enough if unexpected illness strikes.“Our plan is to keep putting the money we’re already paying towards health care in savings,” said Murray, whose insurance is covered through the Affordable Care Act, “and really just hoping that we don’t have a stroke or we don’t have a heart attack.”They’re part of a broader shift taking shape as enhanced subsidies for ACA premiums are set to expire at the end of the year. Without them, many Americans could see their monthly premiums double or even triple next year, a spike that’s forcing people to rethink what they can afford — or whether health insurance is even worth it. Next year will be the biggest premium increase since the ACA took effect, said Art Caplan, the head of the medical ethics division at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City. Open enrollment for ACA plans begins next month, and there is no data yet on how many people plan on dropping their coverage. However, the Congressional Budget Office projects nearly 4 million will drop their health insurance for next year if the subsidies expire. The issue has paralyzed Washington, where Democrats say they won’t vote to reopen the government unless the tax credits are extended.For Murray, 48, the math simply doesn’t work. A truck driver, she was injured in a work accident 2 ½ years ago and is still receiving workers’ compensation, unable to work full time. Her husband, also a truck driver, continues to drive as an independent owner-operator.The couple’s monthly premium is around $1,500; with the subsidies, it comes down to around $450. But the state regulators approved a 26% rate increase for their insurer, which means their premiums will rise by at least $400 next year. The cost could more than triple if the subsidies expire.“What other choice do we have?” Murray said. ‘A catastrophic event’Choosing to go uninsured isn’t new. Before the ACA became law in 2010, millions of Americans made similar choices — often with devastating financial consequences, said Dr. Adam Gaffney, a critical care physician and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. From 2010 to 2023, the rate of people going uninsured fell from around 16% — about 48 million people — to 7.7%, according to data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research group. Meanwhile, enrollment in ACA plans has grown from 8 million people in 2014 to a record 24.3 million people in 2025, thanks in part to the enhanced subsidies, according to the health policy research group KFF. “Unless you are extraordinarily rich, it is effectively not possible to save enough money to cover the costs of a serious illness or major trauma,” Gaffney said. “For the uninsured, medical debt and bankruptcy is just one major illness or injury away.” That reality is compounded by the fact that many Americans don’t have much of a financial cushion, said JoAnn Volk, co-director of Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms.In 2024, roughly 37% of adults said they would struggle to cover a $400 emergency expense, according to the Federal Reserve. And for those who do manage to build a large emergency fund, the balance often pales in comparison to what a common medical procedure could cost, Volk said. window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});“I’m sure people plan to save the money,” Volk said, “but [I’m] not sure how many can do so, and I expect they don’t know how much they’ll need for some common procedures if they have to pay out of pocket, let alone a catastrophic event or unexpected diagnosis.”‘It’s only gotten worse’D’nelle Dowis, of Denver, knows how quickly an unexpected medical expense can add up. She recalls how her father’s appendectomy in the 1990s was a huge financial burden for her family. “It was a big thing for our family having to deal with that,” Dowis said. “So, there’s some kind of childhood fears wrapped up in this.” Still, Dowis and her husband, Christopher, plan to drop their ACA coverage for next year and put that money into a high-yield savings account. The Denver couple, both in their 40s, run a web development business together — which Dowis says they were only able to start due to the safety net the ACA provided. They pay about $600 a month in premiums, but that could jump to $1,300 next year. D’nelle and Christopher Dowis and their two dogs.Courtesy of Dowis familyKeeping their coverage would mean cutting back on care for their two aging dogs, both of whom have cancer, as well as putting less money toward their retirement savings and holiday travel to visit family. “We’d be cutting down on other things that I see as necessities, and I’m not sure if, at this point in my 40s, I’m necessarily willing to do that or not,” Dowis said. Both she and her husband are healthy, which makes going without coverage feel manageable for now. “I am exceptionally frustrated and there’s a level of anger to it,” Dowis said. “We’ve had 15 years now to try to solve this problem, and it’s only gotten worse.” Claire Esparros, 34, said she has the same “psychological, mental, emotional breakdown” every year when it’s time to renew her ACA coverage and face the new monthly rate.Esparros, a New York City-based freelance photographer, has no major health problems and mostly uses her coverage for the basics — annual physicals and the occasional sick visit. But she said her plan hasn’t offered much peace of mind.“It’s horrible insurance,” she said. She has a so-called catastrophic plan, which carries a deductible of nearly $10,000. “The only reason I have it is if something truly horrible happens.”Next year, though, she’s planning to let it go. Her monthly premium is set to triple from about $300 to $900 — and she said she can no longer justify the cost.Instead of setting up a savings account like the Murrays and Dowises, Esparros is exploring health care co-ops, which pool money among members to cover medical expenses.Caplan, of NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said co-ops, sometimes called community-based self-insurance, can be cheaper and more flexible — especially for healthy people — but they aren’t regulated under the ACA. That means they may not cover certain medical bills and are subject to bankruptcy from a single expensive case. “It is a ‘Put your faith in your neighbor’ idea,” he said.Esparros has been looking into two options and said so far she hasn’t heard of any major drawbacks. “It feels more personal and safe,” she said.Berkeley Lovelace Jr.Berkeley Lovelace Jr. is a health and medical reporter for NBC News. He covers the Food and Drug Administration, with a special focus on Covid vaccines, prescription drug pricing and health care. He previously covered the biotech and pharmaceutical industry with CNBC.Geet Jeswani and Jiachuan Wu contributed.

- Latest News - October 22, 2025

Faced with rising ACA premiums as subsidies expire, some Americans say they plan to drop their coverage and instead put the money into savings accounts.

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