By: Kanwal Abidi
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today released further details about the training U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers receive. New ICE recruits receive 56 days of training and an average of 28 days of on-the-job training. No training requirements have been removed. Training increased from five days a week, eight hours a day to six days a week, twelve hours per day. It is the same hours of training officers have always received.
“We have ensured our law enforcement officers get the best of the best training to arrest and remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorist, and gang members from our communities,” said Deputy Assistant
Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) is prepared to accommodate 12,000 new hires this year. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act provided FLETC with $750 million, more than doubling its annual resources, to enhance the training and readiness of U.S. Border Patrol (USBP), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and ICE personnel.
DHS has streamlined training to cut redundancy and incorporate technology advancements, without sacrificing basic subject matter content. Under these new improvements, candidates still learn the same elements and meet the same high standards ICE has always required. No subject matter has been cut.
Language classes, which previously covered only a specific dialect of Spanish, have been replaced with robust translation and interpretation services that apply to multiple languages. The majority of new officers brought on during the hiring surge are experienced law enforcement officers who have already successfully completed a law enforcement academy.
These training courses, run by seasoned officers, focus on essential skills like:
- Arrest techniques, where recruits are trained to safely detain suspects during law enforcement encounters;
- Defensive tactics, where recruits learn how to safely protect themselves and others during potentially violent encounters;
- Conflict management and de-escalation techniques;
- Extensive firearms and marksmanship training;
- Multiple classes dedicated to use of force policy and the proper use of force;
- And much more.
Those who join ICE’s Special Response Teams (SRT) undergo even more intensive and rigorous training, including:
- 30 hours of tryouts just to be considered;
- An SRT Basic Operator Course;
- Continuous and ongoing training in several specialized skills, including breaching techniques, perimeter control, advanced firearms training, hostage rescue, and more;
- Maintaining an expert marksman qualification on all issued firearms.
ICE officers receive structured and comprehensive instruction on the Fourth and Fifth Amendments as an integral component of their basic training at FLETC. The overarching objective is to ensure that, prior to assuming field duties, every ICE officer has been repeatedly trained, tested, and held to clear standards that require consistent respect for constitutional rights in all enforcement activities.
Their training does not end when recruits graduate from the academy. ICE officers go through a rigorous on-the-job training and mentorship. This additional training is tracked online and monitored closely. 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 baseline courses at FLETC provide a solid foundation for the situations our agents and officers will encounter in the field. As with most other fields, our workforce never stops learning. Each office is staffed with senior officials who mentor, coach, and train agents and officers every step of the way, preserving ICE’s reputation as one of the most elite federal law enforcement agencies in the United States.
