ICE bought thousands of branded vehicles that are now just sitting in parking garages after Kristi Noem’s 28-year-old deputy ordered them without checking if they could be used.
It was reported in August that ICE was sending out about 2,500 dark navy pickup trucks and SUVs with the agency’s name, logo, and “Defend the Homeland” slogan—despite agents who said the visible cars would make them targets.
The warnings seem to be true because the cars are not being used.
Federal agents say they can’t drive them while looking for specific people without giving away their location, the Washington Examiner reports.
“One person who knows about the purchases told the Examiner, ‘ICE has never had marked vehicles.
They’re like, “We don’t want to use these, we can’t.”’”
The large order was placed in 2025 by Madison Sheahan, 28.
She was one of Noem’s closest allies inside the agency. Noem was nicknamed “ICE Barbie” because she often posed for photos during ICE raids.
Sources told the that Sheahan was the main way Noem and her top aide, Corey Lewandowski, gave orders.
“The power ran through her,” one ICE insider said. “She did all their bidding.”
Staff were happy when she left the agency in January to run for a congressional seat in Ohio.
The vehicles are navy blue with a red stripe and gold ICE lettering.
They’re now parked in storage across the country. In one California city, 25 branded cars were sent to a nearby detention center and are still there.
A second source said these marked cars can only be used for bringing in people who are already in jail or prison, which makes them useless for regular enforcement jobs.
“It’s ridiculous,” said one source.
“You don’t want to advertise what you’re doing. We’re just hiding them in a parking garage somewhere because we don’t want to drive them. Who wants to drive the marked vehicles?”
Career officers weren’t asked before Sheahan ordered the cars, the Examiner reported.
“If leadership had been consulted—like the executive assistant directors—they would have said, ‘We don’t need these marked vehicles because you’re not going to use them,’” one source said.
Sheahan, from Curtice, Ohio, studied at Ohio State University before Noem put her in charge of the 20,000-strong agency and its $9 billion budget.
Before joining ICE, she worked as Noem’s political director in South Dakota, led the state Republican Party, and served as Louisiana’s Wildlife and Fisheries secretary under Noem’s friend, Gov. Jeff Landry.
Some ICE veterans were upset that someone with so little law enforcement experience was suddenly in charge, as reported by The Beast in January.
Sheahan’s decisions weren’t just about the cars.
NBC News reported she threatened an employee’s job for suggesting a cheaper company get a $100 million recruitment ad contract instead of the one Noem had picked. She told him the decision was “made by the secretary,” then took him into her office and scolded him until he backed down, three officials said.
The $100 million campaign, like the vehicle order, was given without competitive bidding.
It went to People Who Think and Safe America Media, the same companies behind the $220 million self-deportation ad campaign that got a lot of attention during Noem’s Senate hearing and was a factor in her being removed from her post.
She is set to be replaced by Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin, who was nominated to be the next Homeland Security Secretary by President Donald Trump last Thursday.
The vehicle purchase added to the cost.
A $2.25 million contract to outfit 25 Chevrolet Tahoes for recruitment was given without competitive bidding to Rick Hendrick, who owns Hendrick Motorsports in North Carolina and is a big Republican donor. Three other companies got between $174,000 and $230,000 to put the new markings on the vehicles.
Rep. Lucy McBath, 65, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, once proposed an amendment that would have required a part of ICE’s money to be spent on congressional oversight of its spending.
It was rejected. “Taxpayers expect to see where their money is going,” she said.
ICE is trying to change the remaining part of the vehicle order so that future deliveries don’t have brand markings.
ICE didn’t respond to the Examiner’s requests about how many vehicles were bought, the full cost of the order, or whether career officers were consulted before the order was placed. Sheahan also did not respond.
An ICE spokesperson told: “Any claim that these ICE vehicles are not being used is FALSE.
ICE is a law enforcement agency, just like others, and has a fleet of vehicles, including those with ICE branding.
“Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE now has the resources to grow its workforce to support the mission, which will include various types of vehicles.
These specific vehicles are adding to the existing fleet and are used in operations across the country. The safety and security of our men and women is our top priority, and suggesting that law enforcement vehicles, no different from police cars, will endanger that is simply not true.”
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