A whistleblower exposed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement training programs have been significantly reduced in a statement during a congressional hearing on Feb. 13.
Ryan Schwank, a former ICE lawyer and assistant chief counsel for the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, resigned in February out of protest, according to a spokesperson at Whistleblower Aid.
The agency’s training program has been significantly reduced, and the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that oversees ICE, lied about the elimination of certain requirements, Schwank told Congress in the hearing.
Some of the cuts to the program include a 35% reduction in training hours, 16 fewer exams, and classes such as “Judgment Pistol Shooting” and “Use of Force Simulation Training” no longer listed as requirements to become an officer, according to documents released by anonymous whistleblowers.
The documents were obtained by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, who hosted the hearing with Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California.
According to Schwank, officers are not given proper training on the use of firearms, their legal authority, Constitutional rights or lawful arrests without the use of force. He resigned from his position as an instructor of law at the training academy on the day of the hearing.
“ICE is teaching cadets to violate the Constitution,” Schwank said at the hearing.
The DHS denied that the training program has been cut. Department spokeswoman ...
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