Ice Immigration: Ex-ICE instructor testifies recruits got slashed training as agency lied to Congress
Updated on February 23, 2026 at 4: 18 PM ET. Former U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement instructor Ryan Schwank told lawmakers that changes to ice immigration training have left new cadets unprepared to carry out lawful immigration enforcement, a claim that has prompted fresh calls for reforms as Congress weighs funding.
Ryan Schwank says cadets graduate without grasp of tactics or law
Ryan Schwank, an attorney and former career ICE employee who resigned from the agency on February 13, told a congressional hearing Monday that he was responsible for educating new ICE officers on proper use of force and that training staff have widespread concerns about graduates. He 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 said the program is broken and warned, "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 declared, "I am duty bound to tell you the ICE Basic Immigration Enforcement Training Program is now deficient, defective, and broken. " A spokesperson for Whistleblower Aid said Schwank quit the agency in protest. Schwank's testimony was delivered at a hearing organized by Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Rep. Robert Garcia of California.
Internal syllabi show training cut from 72 days to 42 days
Schwank and a second U. S. government whistleblower shared internal agency documents with Congress that include a July 2025 syllabus and an updated February 2026 syllabus. The materials show training dropped from 72 days in July 2025 to 42 days in February 2026, and multiple courses dealing with use of force appear to have been removed over that seven-month span.
January schedule and October exam list show fewer hours and evaluations
Among the disclosures was a model daily schedule dated January 2026 that Democratic staff with the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation analyzed and found that at least some of ICE's new recruits are receiving about half the training hours of previous cohorts. A list of required exams from October 2025 shows cadets are only graded on 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, including "Encounters to Detention" and "Judgment Pistol Shooting. "
DHS denies eliminating requirements as lawmakers press for funding and reforms
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, denied that any training requirements for new recruits had been eliminated. Its statement read, "DHS has streamlined training to cut redundancy and incorporate technology advancements, without sacrificing basic subject matter content. "
The hearing arrives as calls for accountability grow 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 Democratic efforts to condition DHS funding on a set of reforms for ICE, including a prohibition on agents wearing masks.
One of the first public rebukes from an agency insider under the second Trump administration
Schwank's resignation and public testimony stand as one of the first instances of an ICE official who served under the second Trump administration to rebuke the agency over training adequacy. Congressional aides confirmed his February 13 departure, and the documents he and another whistleblower provided form the basis for the claims about reduced training days, removed use-of-force courses, the January 2026 schedule showing shortened hours, and the October 2025 exam list with fewer graded topics.
