ICE Recruits Receive 'Deficient, Defective, Broken' Training Amid Fears of More Shootings

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is responsible for enforcing immigration and customs laws across the country. Its members are expected to undergo rigorous training to ensure they carry out their duties lawfully and effectively. However, in recent months, several people have died in ICE custody or during ICE operations, prompting significant public concern.

Reports indicate that 2025 was the deadliest year for ICE-related deaths in two decades. As of writing, there have been six deaths in ICE custody and two fatal shootings, and those figures could yet increase as the agency continues to expand its operations under the Trump administration. ICE officials have previously stated that the shootings occurred because agents were acting in self-defence. ICE officials have previously stated that the shootings occurred because agents were acting in self-defence.

Whistleblower Raises Training Concerns

Concerns about how ICE officials handle difficult situations have deepened following a whistleblower's revelations. A former ICE instructor has revealed that recruits are not receiving adequate training before being deployed, and that the agency is seeking to scale up its ranks by placing new personnel on the streets without sufficient knowledge of their responsibilities.

'New cadets are graduating from the Academy, despite widespread concerns among training staff that even in the final days of training, the cadets cannot demonstrate a solid grasp of the tactics or the law required to perform their jobs,' Ryan Schwank said.

Schwank described the current training received by ICE recruits as deficient, defective and broken. He added that new recruits are graduating without knowing their constitutional duties, their limits of authority, or what constitutes an unlawful act. Schwank said the situation should alarm the public.

The former instructor resigned from his post two weeks ago in protest, making him among the first ICE employees under the Trump administration to do so. He shared his testimony at a hearing organised by Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Representative Robert Garcia of California, where he called on Congress to intervene before further incidents occur.

Journalist Accepted Into ICE Training Programme

Questions about ICE's recruitment process are not new. Last month, a report revealed that a journalist with no law enforcement background had been accepted into the agency's training programme. Laura Jadeed, a journalist who has previously been critical of ICE and the Trump administration, was accepted on the basis of her military background.

Jadeed detailed the application process she went through and described how straightforward it was to secure a position within the agency. She was told she could begin in a support role focused on common arrests for DUI, physical assault and other incidents. During the interview, she said she had no objection to working inside an office, but was told that the agency's goal is to place as many recruits on the streets as possible.

In her account, Jadeed said ICE had only one specific requirement for its recruits: a desire to work for the agency. Her findings add a further dimension to Schwank's warnings, suggesting that the training concerns he raised may be compounded by the profile of those being recruited in the first place.