ICE Cadets Are Taught to ‘Violate the Constitution’, Ex-DHS Attorney Testifies

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has rapidly expanded its recruitment as part of an enforcement surge under President Donald Trump. However, a former agency training official told Congress that the program for new officers has become flawed.

Ryan Schwank, a former ICE lawyer who helped train recruits at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga., resigned on February 13, 2026. He told a congressional forum that the agency's training program for new deportation officers is “deficient, defective, and broken.”

Schwank testified during a hearing hosted by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Rep. Robert Garcia of California. He accused ICE of sharply reducing essential components of its training and misleading Congress about the changes.

​This was the third public forum held by the two Democrats to discuss how ICE trains new officers and the conduct of those officers once they are on duty.

Schwank said, “I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution when I joined ICE in 2021 as an Assistant Chief Counsel. I followed that oath for four and a half years, working alongside other officers. I followed it when I resigned on February 13, 2026, so I could speak to you today,”

“I am duty-bound to report that the legally required training program for the ICE Academy is deficient, defective, and broken,” Schwank added.

​Schwank said that about five months earlier, he was asked to teach law to new cadets at the ICE Academy in Georgia. “I volunteered to take on the assignment based on my experience in law enforcement oversight. On the first day, I received secretive orders to teach new cadets to violate the Constitution and enter homes without a judicial warrant,” he said.

​According to Schwank, ICE dismantled the training program by cutting 240 hours from the original 584-hour curriculum. This eliminated instruction on the legal system, the Constitution, lawful arrest, use of force, proper detention, and the limits of officers’ authority.

“They seized all legal instructions for use of force,” Schwank said.

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The allegations come as the Donald Trump administration faces heightened scrutiny over its immigration policies amid an expanded mass deportation program. “DHS told the public that the new cadets receive all the training they need to perform their duties, that no critical material or standards have been cut,” he said. “This is a lie. ICE made the program shorter, and they removed so many essential parts that what remains is a dangerous husk.”

​“Even in the final days of training, these cadets cannot demonstrate a solid grasp of the tactics or the law required to perform their jobs. They do not know the limit of their authority,” Schwank added.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, denied that training requirements have been eliminated.

“ICE recruits receive 56 days of training and 28 days on average of on-the-job training,” the department said in response to an inquiry about the allegations made during the forum.

​“Despite false claims from the media and sanctuary politicians, no training hours have been cut. Our officers receive extensive firearm training, are taught de-escalation tactics, and receive Fourth and Fifth Amendment comprehensive instruction,” department spokeswoman Lauren Bis said, according to CNN.

​DHS has “streamlined training to cut redundancy and incorporate technology advancements, without sacrificing basic subject matter content,” Bis said.