Fact check: Do ICE agents have to pass a physical fitness test as part of the hiring process in 2025?

Executive summary — Short answer up front: Multiple contemporaneous reports and official-guideline summaries from 2025 indicate that applicants for ICE law enforcement positions are required to complete and pass a physical fitness assessment as part of the hiring process; this requirement is explicitly described in a June 22, 2025 guide and is corroborated by reporting that lists medical, drug and physical fitness screening for recruits ^{[1] [2]}. Several other articles about ICE’s recruitment surge and training changes either do not mention the test or focus on related hiring priorities, leaving room for interpretive differences about how strictly the standard is applied in practice ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}.

1. Why the fitness question matters now — ICE is hiring at scale and the bar is in public view

ICE’s 2025 recruitment push and accelerated hiring timelines have put questions about entry standards into the public spotlight; reporting documents both an explicit physical screening requirement and a simultaneous push to rapidly onboard large numbers of agents. The June 22, 2025 summary of hiring guidance describes a multi-part physical fitness assessment—including kneel-and-stand, push-ups, and a cardiovascular step test—presenting the fitness test as an established component of the application process ^[1]. At the same time, coverage of ICE’s expanded intake and training changes emphasizes speed and gear over screening detail, which complicates how widely the formal standard is enforced in practice ^{[3] [5]}.

2. Direct evidence that fitness testing is part of hiring — the explicit guidance

The clearest evidence is a 2025 guidance document or summary that lists specific fitness tasks applicants must perform during hiring: kneel-and-stand repetitions, push-ups, and a step test for cardiovascular endurance, which indicates that agencies expect candidates to demonstrate minimum physical capability before appointment ^[1]. This source reads like an operational checklist for entry-level law enforcement hires and therefore functions as direct proof that ICE’s formal hiring pipeline includes a fitness assessment in 2025. That source is dated June 22, 2025 and names discrete exercises rather than general fitness expectations ^[1].

3. Independent reporting backs screening requirements — medical, drug and fitness checks

Reporting published on September 26, 2025 reinforces that law enforcement candidates for ICE face medical screening, drug testing, and a physical fitness test during the hiring cycle, aligning with the June guidance and suggesting the test is a standardized checkpoint rather than an optional step ^[2]. That account comes amid profiles of applicants and details the screening sequence for recruits, offering corroboration from journalistic reporting that the physical test remains part of the intake process as ICE expands hiring late in 2025 ^[2].

4. Where ambiguity appears — recruitment pieces that omit the test or emphasize other priorities

Several contemporaneous articles about ICE’s hiring surge and events do not mention a physical fitness test, instead highlighting preferential review of applicants with law enforcement or military backgrounds, signing bonuses, and shortened training timelines ^{[3] [4] [5]}. The omission can reflect editorial focus, variable hiring stages described in those pieces, or that some recruitment channels prioritize credential screening rather than describing every step of the vetting process. These sources do not contradict the existence of a fitness test, but they create ambiguity about its prominence and enforcement at different entry points ^{[3] [4] [5]}.

5. Older and non-relevant material — fitness reviews and unrelated military changes

A 2023 review of physical fitness testing for mission-critical ICE occupations shows the agency’s longstanding attention to physical standards but does not itself confirm the specific 2025 hiring test ^[6]. Several articles about the U.S. Air Force’s fitness standard changes in September 2025 are unrelated to ICE hiring and therefore provide no evidentiary value regarding immigration-enforcement recruitment policy ^{[7] [8] [9]}. The presence of these items illustrates how public discussion of fitness standards can blend agency-specific rules with broader military or federal fitness debates ^{[6] [7]}.

6. Reconciling the evidence — what can be stated as fact and what remains open

Factually, two 2025 items—an official-style hiring guideline (June 22) and reporting on recruit screening (September 26)—assert that ICE applicants undergo a formal physical fitness assessment as part of hiring ^{[1] [2]}. Multiple recruitment-focused stories that omit the test do not negate those statements but indicate variability in reporting emphasis and potentially in hiring pathways. What remains open is how uniformly the test is applied across accelerated or targeted recruitment streams in 2025 and whether any waivers or different standards are being used for candidates with prior law enforcement or military experience ^{[3] [4] [5]}.

7. Bottom line for readers — decisive but nuanced

The best-supported, contemporaneous evidence shows ICE required applicants for law enforcement roles to pass a physical fitness assessment during the 2025 hiring process, per official guidelines and supporting reporting ^{[1] [2]}. However, public coverage of rapid hiring and training changes sometimes omits this requirement, so practical questions remain about enforcement consistency and exceptions for expedited streams or preferred-hire categories; those operational details are not resolved by the available sources ^{[3] [5]}.