ICE slashed weeks from its basic training program as the agency scrambled to meet ambitious deportation targets set by top White House aide Stephen Miller, newly unveiled records revealed.
Documents obtained by The Washington Post corroborated testimony from former ICE instructor turned whistleblower Ryan Schwank, who told congressional Democrats last week that the agency cut 240 hours of instructional time from its 580-hour basic training program covering the use of force, conduct of detentions and arrests, and firearms training.
“I am here to convey to the public the danger that is being created at the ICE Academy,” Schwank said in his testimony. “Law enforcement is a deadly serious business. It is not a place for shortcuts. Deficient training can and will get people killed. It can and will lead to unlawful arrests, violations of constitutional rights, and a fundamental loss of public trust in law enforcement.”
Records viewed by The Post showed that the vast majority of training cuts took place in August, just as ICE went on a hiring blitz that included eliminating the age cap and offering a host of new benefits, such as a signing bonus and student loan repayments.
In May, Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had set a lofty goal of arresting as many as 3,000 people in a day. Records show that ICE had failed to meet those targets between June and July.
The initial cuts eliminated more than 100 hours of hands-on instruction and practice scenarios in areas such as firearms and fitness training, as well as classroom instruction on topics like case processing and the legal authority of deportation officers, the outlet reported. After further cuts in September, the program was trimmed from 72 days to 42 days.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons testified to Congress last month that the agency “reduce[d] the actual calendar days from 75 to 42. We went from five days a week to six days a week. Five days a week was five eight-hour days. We’ve gone to six 12-hour days.”
At the start of the year, the Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, touted a “historic 120 percent manpower increase” that saw more than 12,000 new agents and officers hired in less than a year from a pool of more than 220,000 applicants.
The records obtained by The Post showed a high failure or dropout rate among 1,400 ICE recruits who took the shortened basic training program in Georgia between August and January.
The 2025 graduation rate dropped from about 80 percent among recruits who underwent the full-length training to 60 percent among those who took the shorter version, according to the outlet. Those who flunked out, meanwhile, mostly failed written exams or the physical abilities assessment.
ICE told The Post that “students must meet all requirements, otherwise they will not be made law enforcement officers,” citing the lower graduation rate as proof that the training academy has not dropped its standards.
An ICE spokesperson told the Daily Beast that recruits receive 56 days of training and an average of 28 days of on-the-job training.
“No training requirements have been removed,” the spokesperson said. “Training increased from five days a week, eight hours a day to six days a week, twelve hours per day including personalized independent training. It’s the same hours of training officers have always received. No training or standards have been cut.”
