Some Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers who joined the department during a hiring spree last year participated in a training program that was “dramatically” slashed by around 40%, according to a new report.
The Washington Post said in its report that it obtained records that show the program was cut. These records corroborate a whistleblower’s claim, the outlet added. Its records are not the same as Department of Homeland Security documents on ICE training cuts made public by Democrats and did not come from the same source, the outlet noted.
“I am here because I am duty-bound to report that legally required training program at the ICE academy is deficient, defective and broken,” whistleblower Ryan Schwank testified during a congressional hearing last month. He is a lawyer who was formerly an ICE instructor.
His testimony came after the fatal shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens this year at the hands of federal agents participating in Minneapolis, Minn., immigration crackdown actions – Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37. Their deaths resulted in considerable backlash and questioning of ICE tactics.
Schwank revealed during his testimony that legal instruction regarding the use of force was one of the things cut from the ICE training program. He said “what remains is a dangerous husk,” and that “ICE is lying to Congress and the American people.”
Per the Post’s report, the Department of Homeland Security (of which ICE is a sub-agency) denied any reduction in its training. However, the “previously undisclosed documents” obtained by the Post indicate that ICE did remove about 240 hours from its basic training program. That’s equal to about 40% of the instruction time.
Included in the records were four training program outlines dated between July 2025 and January 2026 “that break down the hours allocated to instructional topics” and records that track outcomes.
“The documents also offer new insight into how and when the training program was reduced,” said The Washington Post. “The vast majority of the cuts occurred in August, the records show, as the Trump administration pushed ICE to double the number of officers in the field by the end of 2025.”
As of Jan. 1, records cited by the outlet showed that more than 900 ICE officers had completed a shortened version of basic training. When asked about the Post’s findings, ICE “acknowledged that the program has been accelerated by increasing the daily training time and adding an extra day of training each week,” the Post said.
Still, the agency “insisted that there had been no cuts to overall training hours, requirements or subject matter.”
In addition to the documents cited by the Post and the whistleblower’s report, other reports from late last year indicated that ICE handed out a total of $1.5 million in $10,000 bonuses to “dud” recruits as part of its recruitment spree. Audacy also reported on a whistleblower revelation that ICE officials told federal immigration agents they were authorized to enter U.S. homes, a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
In his testimony, Schwank mentioned this concerning policy.
“On my first day, I received secretive orders to teach new cadets to violate the Constitution by entering homes without a judicial warrant,” he said. Schwank added that his supervisor made it clear that disobedience on the matter could cost him his job.
ICE’s basic training was a 72-day program held at the headquarters of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers before changes came last summer, said the Post. It also said ICE never formally announced changes, but that it “told reporters on a media tour in August that it had been streamlined to eight weeks.”
“Since the August media tour, officials have given conflicting accounts about training time. In the past month, they have stated at different times that the basic training last 47 days, 42 days and 56 days,” the Post added. Its records show that trainings have been 42 days since September.
According to the Post’s analysis of the records students were receiving about eight hours of daily instruction as of January and a DHS official who spoke to the outlet anonymously said that hadn’t changed in February. On the other hand, it noted that “DHS and ICE officials have repeatedly said that no training time has been lost, in part because the academy increased daily instruction from eight hours to 12 hours,” and that graduates receive 28 days of on-the-job training.
“In the past, all new deportation officers were required to attend the academy,” said the Post. “Now, only recruits who have no law enforcement experience are sent to the academy,” and those with experience just take an online course in addition to on-the job training.
Last year, graduation rates for the ICE program dropped by around 80% for full-length training recipients and 60% for shortened training recipients. ICE told the post those lower rates are evidence that the academy hasn’t lowered its standards.
“Students must meet all requirements, otherwise they will not be made law enforcement officers,” ICE told the outlet.
