On Monday, an attorney and former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) instructor, Ryan Schwank, testified before Congress that the agency's new training program is "deficient, defective, and broken," leading to constitutional violations and unlawful arrests. "Deficient training," Schwank added, "can and will get people killed."
The testimony took place during a public hearing organized by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D–Conn.) and Rep. Robert Garcia (D–Calif.) to discuss constitutional concerns following a leaked ICE memo asserting federal agents have the authority to forcibly enter homes without a judicially signed warrant. Schwank, who originally lodged his whistleblower disclosure anonymously in January, resigned from ICE in protest less than two weeks ago, according to CBS News.
Schwank, who was hired by ICE in August 2021, volunteered to train "new, inexperienced recruits" five months ago amid the agency's push to hire 10,000 new personnel. But on his first day on the job, Schwank said he "received secretive orders to teach new cadets to violate the Constitution by entering homes without a judicial warrant." Additionally, the ICE training program has been cut nearly in half—from 584 to 344 hours—by removing "vital classes" on the Constitution, use of force, and lawful arrests, according to Schwank. In particular, Schwank called out the lack of training new ICE agents currently receive on the "objectively reasonable" standard, to which officers are held when deciding...
A federal grand jury subpoenaed records from the Arizona Senate's debunked "audit" of the 2020 election in Maricopa County amid fears that the Trump administration will attempt to assert control o...