Now the Trump administration is abandoning that accelerated curriculum altogether, according to two administration officials and another person close to the agency.
The Department of Homeland Security is overhauling how it trains its deportation officers, scrapping the streamlined program that had been used to rapidly deploy thousands of new hires in recent months. In its place, the agency plans to certify and dispatch veteran officers to the field to provide additional instruction for those who came through the fast-track pipeline, the two administration officials said. The training curriculum is still being finalized and the draft plan could change.
Democrats and whistleblowers had criticized the shortened program, saying new deportation officers hired with funding from last year’s GOP megalaw received only six to eight weeks of training, down from the standard 72-day basic training program that recruits completed before last summer. DHS has denied that it reduced training levels for its deportation officers regardless of when they were hired.
The shift marks the latest example of the administration recalibrating its hard-line approach to immigration enforcement after widespread political blowback and declining support for ICE, as well as for President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration. Beyond practical adjustments to training, DHS has also softened its immigration message and made a series of leadership changes at the agency following the ouster of former DHS head Kristi Noem.
“We’re actually doing something good here,” said the first administration official. “ICE is actually taking this very seriously, and it’s not just lip service.”
The agency is also working to broadly revise and strengthen its training protocols for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, the branch responsible for carrying out deportations. The changes come as the administration faces mounting pressure to demonstrate that its immigration policies are both effective and sustainable.
