ICE mandates additional training for new hires after backlash

Source: msn/CBS News

12h


U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week extended training for new officers and mandated additional instruction for those onboarded under a shortened Trump administration academy process that has now been scrapped, according to an internal agency memo obtained by CBS News.

The moves follow months of concerns raised by Democratic lawmakers, advocates and former ICE officials about the length and quality of the training undergone by the federal immigration agents at the forefront of President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. Those concerns intensified after federal immigration agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during a controversial crackdown in Minneapolis earlier this year that the Trump administration scaled back after bipartisan backlash.

In February, Ryan Schwank, a former ICE instructor, delivered a scathing whistleblower complaint to Congress, denouncing the agency's training process as "deficient, defective, and broken." He warned that the administration was at risk of onboarding thousands of ICE officers who would not be able to carry out immigration enforcement in a lawful way.

In an internal memo this week, an ICE official said the agency would be extending its core training program for immigration enforcement officers from 42 days to roughly 71 days. That extended training period is set to start in July for new academy classes at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, or FLETC, in Georgia, where ICE recruits are trained.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/ice-mandates-additional-training-for-new-hires-after-backlash/ar-AA25kk9d