A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) instructor told congressional Democrats on Monday that the agency has sharply reduced training requirements for new officers and directed instructors to teach policies he believes are unconstitutional.
Ryan Schwank, who resigned on February 13 from his post at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia, said ICE eliminated roughly 240 hours from what had been a 580-hour basic training program. According to documents he provided to lawmakers, the academy shortened its program from 72 days to 42.
"Law enforcement is a deadly serious business. It is not a place for shortcuts," Schwank said in the hearing. "Deficient training can and will get people killed." He added: "ICE is teaching cadets to violate the Constitution and attempting to cloak it in secrecy by demanding I lie about it."
Schwank testified that firearms instruction was reduced by 16 hours and that practical exams were cut from 25 to nine. Eliminated exams included "Judgment pistol shooting" and "Determine removability," according to a 90-page memorandum released by minority staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and analyzed by The Los Angeles Times.
Schwank said courses on use-of-force simulation and legal standards were removed or shortened, and that some closed-book tests became open-book.
He also described being shown an internal memo authorizing ICE officers to enter homes using administrative warrants signed by agency...
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