Deportation Officer Transition Program (dotp) __full__ -

“You’re not a street cop. You’re not a border agent,” says Dr. Mariana Flores, a forensic psychologist who consulted on the DOTP’s creation. “You are the last face a person sees before they lose their home, their job, their entire life in this country. That weight is crushing.”

For two decades, Jameson Cole wore the badge of a Deportation Officer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He spent his days tracking fugitives, escorting flights of removals, and enforcing court-ordered departures. It was a career defined by high stress, moral complexity, and the heavy finality of a gavel. deportation officer transition program (dotp)

“My daughter used to say, ‘Daddy sends people away,’” Cole recalls. “Now she says, ‘Daddy helps kids come home.’ Same knowledge. Different compass.” “You’re not a street cop

But when he hung up his ballistic vest at 52, he didn't retire to a quiet life of fishing. He became a caseworker for unaccompanied minors. “You are the last face a person sees

For years, the official response was standard Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)—counseling hotlines and stress management webinars. But attrition rates kept climbing. Then, in 2019, a pilot program emerged from an unlikely partnership: ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility and a coalition of immigrant legal aid groups.