ICE is No Longer Your Regular Federal Agency

The training for ICE agents has been shortened to only 47 days. Because the agency is hiring on such a large and rapid scale, the recruitment process is no longer as lengthy or selective. This means a person can become an ICE officer in approximately two months, suggesting that background checks may not be sufficiently thorough.

While this is creating hiring challenges for many local police departments, it also points to a deeper problem: 47 days is not enough time to train someone to be fully proficient, especially when they are granted significant power and equipped with firearms. For comparison, the U.S. Army’s basic training is 10 weeks long, followed by additional specialized training. A trained infantry soldier undergoes at least 16 weeks of instruction—which is still considered short—and is expected to receive further training upon arriving at their unit.

If 47 days is not even enough to finish Army boot camp, how can we trust that someone is fully trained to handle firearms and navigate complicated immigration laws in less than two months? It is clearly not enough, and as a result, we are seeing more clashes and abuses of power by ICE agents. Many of them are simply not well-trained.

Furthermore, because the majority of these agents cover their faces and standard guardrails and oversight have been removed, ICE is beginning to function like a private army accountable only to the President. Additionally, ICE detention facilities have been refusing to welcome members of Congress for oversight visits.

When you put a group of barely-trained individuals in a position with no oversight, hidden identities, and weapons that can be used without consequences, deadly clashes become inevitable. ICE is no longer the regular federal agency we used to imagine—one made up of professionals who are well-trained and obey legal orders. That is certainly not the ICE we are seeing under Trump 2.0.