Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now requiring additional training for agents hired under the Trump administration’s now-scrapped accelerated training program, according to a report.
ICE said this week that it would extend its core training program for officers from 42 days to roughly 71 days, according to an internal memo obtained by CBS News.
The longer training periods will be implemented in July for new academy classes at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Georgia, where ICE officers receive training.
Additionally, ICE officers who underwent the fast-tracked 42-day training process will now be required to participate in a “follow-on” training program called the Advanced Field Officer Training Program, the report says. The memo didn’t specify how long the additional training program will be.
The ICE official who wrote the memo said the changes would help promote officer safety, operational efficiency and compliance with laws and policies, according to the report.
“As our officers continue to face coordinated campaigns of violence against them including riots outside ICE facilities, sniper attacks, and more than a 1,300 percent increase in assaults against them, ICE is instituting additional training including, crowd control measures, additional training for high-risk vehicle stops, a live-fire cover course for officer safety and medical training,” the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said in a statement.
The extra training will be “tracked and monitored closely,” DHS said.
“New hires take what they learn at FLETC and apply it to real-life scenarios while on duty, preserving ICE’s reputation as one of the most elite law enforcement agencies not only in the U.S., but the entire world,” the agency added.
The Independent has contacted DHS for more information.
The fast-tracked ICE training began under now-fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, as the Trump administration swiftly hired 10,000 agents to spearhead Trump’s aggressive deportation goals. The hiring surge came after congressional approval of $178 billion to expand the agency under Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Despite the hiring blitz, ICE later dismissed more than 200 new recruits while they were in training after they fell short of requirements, according to agency data reviewed by NBC.
Most of the new recruits did not meet physical and academic standards. Several were dismissed for their criminal backgrounds or over safety concerns that were flagged in background checks, per the report.
Homeland Security’s then-deputy secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed that a majority of new recruits are former law enforcement officers who go through a different hiring process; per ICE policy, applicants are required to pass drug tests and undergo a security check before undergoing training. McLaughlin said the figures in NBC’s report were “not accurate” and “reflect a subset of candidates in initial basic academy classes.”
However, the Trump administration ditched the accelerated training program last month after bipartisan scrutiny from members of Congress — and widespread outrage across the country over violent ICE arrests and the fatal shootings of two demonstrators in Minneapolis.
The plans come as newly appointed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin hopes to get the agency under control and out of headlines, while also meeting Trump’s goal of deporting 1 million people a year.
More details here...
