The Trump administration is reportedly dismantling its fast-track training program for new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Politico detailed that the program, which was used to ramp up immigration enforcement efforts and add thousands of new agents to ICE, would be eliminated. Under the streamlined training regimen, prospective ICE agents only had six to eight weeks of training instead of the standard 72-day training program.
The outlet also reported that the administration plans to send out veteran officers to provide more training and guidance to agents who already were hired under the fast-track program.
The administration had boasted in January that it had more than doubled ICE agents in the previous year, increasing the number from 10,000 to 22,000.
"The good news is that thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill that President Trump signed, we have an additional 12,000 ICE officers and agents on the ground across the country," Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said at the time. "That's a 120% increase in our workforce. And that's in just about four months."
However, a lot has changed since then. By the end of January, two U.S. citizens had been shot and killed by ICE and border patrol agents in Minnesota, leading to criticism and backlash.
Following those shootings, Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino announced he was retiring. Also, President Trump fired Kristi Noem as DHS secretary, replacing her with Markwayne Mullin.
The number of people being held in immigration detention under Trump began trending downward this year. In January, the daily average number of detainees was 72,000. That number dropped to about 63,000 in March. By early April, the figure was down to 60,311.
Now, according to Politico, the administration's fast-track training program that was designed to quickly bolster ICE's ranks is being done away with.
Politico reported that ICE also was revising and improving training protocols for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, with a focus on how ICE conducts on-the-job training.
"This additional training is tracked online and monitored closely," a DHS spokesperson told Politico. "New hires take what they learn at [Federal Law Enforcement Training Center] and apply it to real-life scenarios while on duty, preserving ICE's reputation as one of the most elite law enforcement agencies not only in the U.S., but the entire world."
