Ice Immigration: Ex-ICE Instructor Testifies Agency Slashed Training, Lied to Congress
Updated on February 23, 2026 at 4: 18 PM ET. A former U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement instructor told Congress that rapid expansion of ice immigration ranks is putting recruits on the street without lawful training and that agency leaders have misrepresented training levels to lawmakers.
Testimony From Ryan Schwank
Ryan Schwank, an attorney and former career ICE employee who resigned from the agency less than two weeks ago, testified Monday before a hearing organized by congressional Democrats. Schwank said, "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. "
Schwank added, "Without reform, ICE will graduate thousands of new officers who do not know their constitutional duty, do not know the limits of their authority and who do not have the training to recognize an unlawful order. That should scare everyone. " He also told lawmakers, "I am duty bound to tell you the ICE Basic Immigration Enforcement Training Program is now deficient, defective, and broken. "
Ice Immigration Training Concerns Raised
Schwank resigned from ICE on Feb. 13, congressional aides said. A spokesperson for Whistleblower Aid, the legal group representing Schwank, said he quit the agency in protest. His testimony is one of the first public rebukes from an official who served under the second Trump administration about the adequacy of the agency's training.
Training Reduced From 72 to 42 Days
Internal agency documents released as part of disclosures Schwank and a second U. S. government whistleblower shared with Congress show a July 2025 syllabus for the ICE officer training program and an updated syllabus dated February 2026. Within the seven-month span, training dropped from 72 to 42 days, and multiple courses dealing with use of force appear to have been removed.
Internal Documents and Schedules
The documents include a model daily schedule from January 2026 that Democratic staff with the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation analyzed and found shows at least some new recruits are receiving about half the training hours as previous cohorts. A list of required exams from October 2025 shows cadets are graded on only a fraction of the topics that were necessary to become an officer four years earlier. Eliminated evaluations appear to touch on use-of-force protocols, such as "Encounters to Detention" and "Judgment Pistol Shooting. " Schwank alleged ICE officials are lying about the amount of training new recruits receive.
DHS Response and Partial Quote
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, denied that any training requirements for new recruits had been eliminated. The statement said, "DHS has streamlined training to cut redundancy and incorporate technology advancements, without sacrificing basic subject matter content. " The provided remark in the record continues with "Under these new" and then cuts off; the remainder is unclear in the provided context.
Political Fallout and Accountability Calls
The hearing, organized by Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Rep. Robert Garcia of California, comes as calls for accountability have increased after several incidents in which federal immigration officers deployed deadly force, including the January killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis. Schwank's testimony is expected to strengthen Democrats' refusal to fund the Department of Homeland Security until the Trump administration agrees to multiple reforms for ICE, including a prohibition on agents wearing masks.
Schwank's statements, the syllabi dated July 2025 and February 2026, the January 2026 model daily schedule and the October 2025 exam list were all presented to the congressional forum as evidence that ICE's Basic Immigration Enforcement Training Program is materially reduced and changed. The whistleblower disclosures were part of information shared with Congress by Schwank and a second U. S. government whistleblower.
ice immigration remains at the center of lawmakers' scrutiny as they weigh funding and reforms tied to training, use-of-force evaluations and hiring practices.
Closing: Lawmakers heard direct testimony from Ryan Schwank, reviewed internal syllabi and schedules showing a drop from 72 to 42 training days, and received a DHS denial that requirements were eliminated; the record includes a partial DHS quote that is unclear in the provided context.
