DHS Restores Standard Training Requirements for New ICE Agents

The Trump administration is ending the accelerated training program for new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents used to bolster the agent count quickly.

According to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin, his agency will go back to the 72 days of training for agents on July 1.

“We had to rewrite the curriculum,” Mullin told members of the House Homeland Security Committee during a June 3 hearing.

Mullin’s comments were in response to accusations by Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) that ICE agents “engaged in unprofessional behavior,” used “unjustified force,” and ignored the “rule of law,” in recent months, under former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

“When will ICE agents who received less training have to retake or recertify courses they were exempt from because of the accelerated training schedule?” Thanedar asked, pushing Mullin about upcoming changes. “New ICE agents received 42 days of training rather than the standard 72 days to meet President Trump’s demand.”

Mullin countered by saying, “It’s interesting me how you always point out the behavior of our ICE agents, but you don’t point out what caused it by the so-called peaceful protesters,” repeating his previous comments about ICE agents being harassed.

“I will answer this question,” said Mullin. “All training starting July 1 will be back up to the regular standards.”

The hearing was set to question the secretary about the fiscal year 2027 budget. Since Mullin’s took the helm of the agency roughly two months ago, several changes have been made, including the cancellation of a number of contracts put in motion under Noem’s tenure.

DHS has added 5,000 people to its “Worst of the Worst” website, which indexes profiles of alleged criminal illegal immigrants who have been arrested in the United States.

With the recent update, the total number of people featured on the website is more than 35,000, according to a DHS June 1 statement.

Mullin reiterated that it is one of the agency’s top priorities to locate more than 340,000 immigrant children who the government allegedly lost track of under the Biden administration.

The secretary said that locating lost children, many of whom are believed to have been trafficked, “is one of the hardest missions we have, yet the most gratifying when we rescue these children out, and we’re seeing a tremendous amount of kids … that are being trafficked.”

According to Mullin, the new budget would facilitate coordination with local law enforcement to more efficiently find the hundreds of thousands of children whose status is still unknown.