An until-recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney who recently blew the whistle on new training shortfalls within Department of Homeland Security training has roots in Bowling Green.
The whistleblower, Ryan Schwank, graduated from Bowling Green High School, the school district confirmed. Western Kentucky University shared that an alum with his last name obtained WKU’s political science bachelor’s in 2009, though Western wouldn’t confirm it’s the same person.
Schwank — who joined ICE in 2021 as an assistant chief counsel and trained new deportation officers — spoke publicly on DHS directives to pare training for the first time before Congress on Monday. Schwank stated that he swore to uphold the Constitution, and he followed it when he resigned Feb. 13 to speak before U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) at a public forum Monday.
“I am here because I am duty-bound to report the legally required training program that the ICE academy is deficient, defective and broken,” Schwank stated.
Decadeslong attorney David Funke — at Immigration Law Firm, which has a location in Bowling Green — said he met Schwank, a Bowling Green native, some 10 years ago through the Kentucky Bar Association as the two sought to start an immigration law bar chapter for lawyers statewide.
Funke — who previously taught at a training academy for immigration officers under a previous iteration of DHS known as Immigration and Naturalization Service — said he was among those who recommended...
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