An ICE insider just put the agency’s training pipeline on blast, and the timing is the point. A former attorney who helped train deportation officers says the academy was stripped down while ICE raced to bulk up, leaving Congress to decide which version of ICE it believes.
What You Should Know
Ryan Schwank, a former ICE attorney involved in training new deportation officers, told lawmakers on February 24th, 2026, that the ICE academy’s legally required training was being dismantled. He alleged recruits were taught unconstitutional home entry and said 240 hours were cut from a 584-hour program.
Schwank testified in a forum led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Robert Garcia, two Democrats pressing for leverage over immigration enforcement tactics while the Department of Homeland Security’s funding remains unresolved, according to PBS NewsHour.
Inside the ICE Academy Complaint
Schwank framed his testimony as a whistleblower report from inside the training shop. “I am here because I am duty-bound to report the legally required training program at the ICE academy is deficient, defective, and broken,” he said, in remarks aired by PBS.
His most explosive allegation was about what new recruits were allegedly being told to do in the field. “On my first day, I received secretive orders to teach new cadets to violate the Constitution by entering homes without a judicial warrant,” Schwank said.
The Hiring Surge and the Cut Hours
The clash is not subtle. Schwank described a training program getting shorter and thinner, while ICE and the Trump administration push to recruit, train, and deploy officers faster. PBS reported that ICE announced in January it had hired more than 12,000 new officers in the past year, more than doubling its force.
Schwank told lawmakers that, over five months, he watched ICE “cutting 240 hours of vital classes from a 584-hour program.” If accurate, that is not a paperwork dispute. It is the difference between an agency claiming professional standards and an agency getting accused, under oath, of training people into constitutional trouble.
DHS Money, and a Shutdown Standoff
The hearing did not happen in a vacuum. PBS also pointed to a broader flashpoint that has Democrats demanding negotiations over DHS funding and ICE tactics, citing recent fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by immigration enforcement officers and allegations of excessive force against immigrants and protesters.
Congress, meanwhile, is still deadlocked over a DHS funding deal as a partial government shutdown drags on, PBS reported. Watch what happens next: whether DHS and ICE offer a detailed rebuttal, whether lawmakers seek documents on academy curricula, and whether funding talks turn training standards into a hard condition instead of a talking point.
