The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is dropping its “fast-track” training program used for new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recruits.
According to Politico, two administration officials and a person close to ICE confirmed the overhaul of the streamlined program, adding that DHS plans to certify and deploy veteran agents to the field.
The officials affirmed that doing so would give recruits in the accelerated learning program ample time to receive additional instruction.
“The training curriculum is still being finalized, and the administration’s draft plan could change,” Politico reports.
Previous Skepticism Over ICE Training
Previously, DHS denied reducing training requirements for its deportation officers, setting “the record straight,” and “debunking falsehoods,” in a press release on its website.
“New ICE recruits receive 56 days of training and an average of 28 days of on-the-job training. No training requirements have been removed. Training increased from five days a week, eight hours a day to six days a week, twelve hours per day. It is the same hours of training officers have always received,” the agency wrote in a press release on Feb 23, 2026.
The agency’s clarifications about its training curriculum were made right after a former ICE lawyer and instructor testified in front of federal lawmakers, revealing that the required training was “deficient, defective, and broken.”
Additional Reforms To ICE Training
“We’re actually doing something good here,” one administration official told Politico. “ICE is actually taking this very seriously, and it’s not just lip service.”
In addition to the “fast-track” overhaul, the agency is working to revise and strengthen its training procedures for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations – the branch involved in arresting, detaining, and deporting unauthorized immigrants.
To improve on-the-job training, ICE plans to station certified and vetted officers at their field offices, where they will primarily serve as training officials for future recruits. The administration official affirms that this process will ensure that consistent standards are met nationwide.
