ICE officer training is 'deficient' and 'broken,' former agency lawyer
tells congressional forum
[February 24, 2026]
By REBECCA SANTANA
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
lawyer who was responsible for training new deportation officers warned
Monday that the agency's training program for new recruits is
“deficient, defective and broken.”
Ryan Schwank's comments during a forum held by congressional Democrats
come at a time of intense scrutiny of the officers tasked with carrying
out President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda. Critics, including
rights groups and Democratic politicians, have accused deportation
officers of using excessive force when arresting immigrants, attacking
bystanders who record their conduct and failing to follow constitutional
protections of people's rights.
The Department of Homeland Security is rapidly scaling up the number of
deportation officers, raising concerns that it will sacrifice proper
screening and training of applicants in a rush to get them into the
field. The department denied it was cutting corners, saying new officers
get trained on firearms, use-of-force policies and how to safely arrest
people.
Schwank testified during a hearing hosted by Democratic Sen. Richard
Blumenthal of Connecticut and Rep. Robert Garcia of California.
Blumenthal's office said Schwank resigned from the agency on Feb. 13.
“I am here because I am duty-bound to report the legally required
training program at the ICE academy is deficient, defective and broken,”
Schwank said.
He also accused the department of dismantling the training program for
new deportation officers and lying about what they were doing.
“DHS told the public the new cadets receive all the training they need
to perform their duties, that no critical material or standards have
been cut," he said. "This is a lie. ICE made the program shorter, and
they removed so many essential parts that what remains is a dangerous
husk.”
Monday's was the third public forum held by the two Democrats to examine
how ICE is training thousands of new officers and the conduct of those
officers once they’re on the streets. Both have been vocal critics of
how ICE officers conduct themselves. At the beginning of the hearing,
Blumenthal thanked the witnesses, including Schwank, for their “courage
and strength.”
Blumenthal's office said Schwank was one of two anonymous whistleblowers
who came forward earlier to disclose a new ICE policy authorizing
deportation officers to forcibly enter an immigrant's home to remove
them from the country even if they didn't have a warrant signed by a
judge.
His office also released dozens of pages of documents related to the
training of new deportation officers, noting the disclosure came from
whistleblowers.
Blumenthal's office said the documents demonstrated “drastic cuts” to
how new deportation officers are trained and tested. That includes
changes to the number of exams new officers have to pass, the classes
they have to take and the hours they train.
“The training has been truncated and reduced, both in numbers of courses
and substantive policy,” the senator said at the start of the hearing.
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Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Ct., speaks during a Senate Homeland
Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 12,
2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
Homeland Security strongly denied that it has removed any training
requirements or lessened requirements for officers. ICE recruits
receive 56 days of training and 28 days on average of on-the-job
training, the department said Monday in response to an inquiry about
the allegations made during the forum.
“Despite false claims from the media and sanctuary politicians, no
training hours have been cut. Our officers receive extensive firearm
training, are taught de-escalation tactics, and receive Fourth and
Fifth Amendment comprehensive instruction," department spokeswoman
Lauren Bis said in an e-mailed statement.
She also said ICE recruits are monitored on the job after graduating
from the academy.
The department has “streamlined training to cut redundancy and
incorporate technology advancements, without sacrificing basic
subject matter content,” Bis said.
Schwank disputed that new officers are getting much in the way of
on-the-job training, describing the supervision as minimal. Many
graduates go to their home offices just long enough to “get their
gun, their badge and their body armor,” he said.
Schwank said he had taught cadets who were as young as 18, including
one who celebrated her 19th birthday in his classroom. Previously,
new recruits had to be at least 21, but Homeland Security announced
last summer that it was removing age restrictions on who could join
the agency. Schwank said the recruits wanted to do well but the
agency wasn't giving them the training to do the job correctly.
At one point during Monday's forum, Schwank was asked whether he had
ever seen recruits use disproportional force during training and
replied that he had seen that happen multiple times. He cited
examples of trainees accidentally drawing their firearms on each
other, arresting people without cause or using excessive force. Even
so, he said, they graduated from the academy.
The documents released by Blumenthal's office show that ICE is
eliminating over a dozen “practical exams” that used to be necessary
for deportation officers to pass, according to an analysis by
Democratic Senate staff. ICE also appears to have cut a number of
classes from the training, including “Use of Force Simulation
Training.”
Deportation officers appear to be getting fewer hours of training
overall, according to the documents.
The two other people who spoke during the forum were Teyana Gibson
Brown, whose husband was arrested by deportation officers who broke
into their house without a warrant signed by a judge to take him
away, and Stevan Bunnell, who was the general counsel for the
Department of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017.
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