Former ICE lawyer testifies training for immigration agent recruits ‘deficient, defective, broken’
2026 年 2 月 25 日
Whistleblower Alleges ICE Training Program Is “Deficient, Defective and Broken”
CHICAGO (WLS) — A whistleblower is warning that training for new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recruits is unsound. In sworn testimony, a former ICE lawyer responsible for training new deportation officers called the agency’s training program “deficient, defective and broken.”
Ryan Schwank voiced his concerns this week during a forum held by congressional Democrats. “The legally required training program at the ICE academy is deficient, defective and broken,” Schwank said. “On my first day I received secretive orders to teach new cadets to violate the constitution.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is rapidly scaling up the number of deportation officers, raising concerns that the agency may sacrifice proper screening and training of recruits in its rush to place officers in the field. In response to the allegations, DHS insists it provides the “best of the best” training for new ICE officers.
New recruits currently receive 56 days of formal training, followed by an average of 28 days of on-the-job training. However, critics argue this is insufficient.
Training Criticized as Inadequate
Bill Kushner, ABC7 Police Affairs Consultant and former Chicago Police Academy instructor, strongly disagrees with the adequacy of ICE’s training timeline. “Fifty-six days of training—that’s almost criminal, almost criminal,” Kushner said.
Kushner explained that this short duration is not enough to safely prepare agents for interactions with the public, especially in the highly volatile situations ICE officers often face. “They shortened firearms training, which is almost criminal,” he stated. “They shortened or eliminated use of force training, which, again, is just unconscionable in any day and age. And they shortened or eliminated other parts of their training for dealing with the public.”
By comparison, Chicago police recruits receive 14 weeks of academy training, followed by 12 weeks of field training with a field training officer. Additionally, they complete 40-50 hours of firearms training and at least 18 hours focused on use-of-force protocols.
“They receive judgmental training on when they can and cannot shoot,” Kushner detailed. “Because just because you can doesn’t mean it’s necessarily safe for you to do so.”
Legal Experts See Consequences of Poor Training
Carla Espinoza, a former immigration judge turned immigration attorney after being fired by the Trump administration, says she has seen the dangerous outcomes of inadequate training firsthand.
“Of the dozens of cases that I’ve litigated, a large majority of them, in my opinion, related to individuals who were unlawfully arrested,” Espinoza said.
She added, “When you cut the training and then put them in certainly more volatile enforcement operations and situations that we had never seen before, you’re going to have fatal consequences, such as the ones we’ve seen.”
The training ICE agents receive before being deployed nationwide is under intense scrutiny as the Trump administration pushes to hire thousands of new immigration officers this year and has ramped up enforcement efforts across the country—sometimes leading to lethal outcomes.
DHS Response
In response to the allegations, DHS maintains that it has streamlined its training program to cut redundancy without sacrificing essential subject matter content.
As the debate continues, concerns remain over whether ICE officers are adequately prepared to perform their duties safely and lawfully in the field.
See also: “ICE Academy” training materials for warrantless arrests challenged in Chicago court.