How do ICE ERO and HSI training curricula differ in week‑by‑week content?

1. Training length and overall structure

ERO recruits historically attend a basic immigration enforcement program at FLETC that multiple official and archived ICE descriptions place in the range of roughly 20 weeks, although some reporting describes more compressed versions and recent policy changes that shortened certain cohorts ^{[1] [4]}; by contrast HSI special agents receive foundational criminal-investigator instruction (CITP) and then agency‑specific HSISAT modules that are variously reported as 12–13 weeks for the CITP plus an HSISAT block (with some sources describing HSISAT as 13 weeks and others describing a longer, six‑month aggregate) — the net result is HSI training totals substantially more weeks and more classroom/field time than ERO’s basic program ^{[3] [2] [1] [4]}.

2. Week 1–4: foundational commonalities and early divergence

Both entry paths begin with foundational law‑enforcement basics — physical fitness, firearms qualifications, constitutional and criminal law primers and emergency vehicle operations commonly appear in the earliest weeks — but ERO’s early weeks emphasize immigration statutes, removal procedures, translation/Spanish language skills and field tactics for arrests and transports, while HSI agents first complete the general Criminal Investigator Training Program (a 12‑week CITP in many descriptions) focused on investigative tradecraft, evidence handling and interagency coordination before HSISAT’s customs/immigration investigative modules begin ^{[1] [3] [4]}.

3. Week 5–12: tactical enforcement versus investigative tradecraft

In the middle weeks ERO curricula concentrate on operational field skills — target identification, arrest and detention protocol, detention logistics, cultural/multicultural communications, avoidance of racial profiling and repeated firearms and scenario training designed to prepare officers for removal operations — these weeks are highly procedural and scenario driven ^[1]. By contrast HSI’s middle weeks build investigative depth: case development, advanced search and seizure law, financial and cyber investigative techniques, prosecutorial preparation and multi‑agency task force work; HSISAT is described as small‑class, intensive instruction aimed at producing plainclothes criminal investigators ^{[3] [2]}.

4. Week 13–final: specialization, prosecution prep and field internships

Toward the end of ERO basic academies the focus typically shifts to policies governing detention and deportation processing, community‑safety procedures and culminating practical exams and range qualifications — the cadence closes on readiness for immediate field deployment ^[1]. HSI tracks conclude later with case‑specific modules, preparation for federal prosecution, advanced forensics and often attachments with existing investigative units; HSI graduates are trained to develop long‑running investigations rather than conduct immediate removal operations ^{[3] [4]}.

5. What reporting does not — and does — reveal: secrecy, revisions, and political drivers

Multiple sources note that specific curricula are treated as internal and change with enforcement priorities, and reporting is inconsistent about week counts (some describing 20 weeks for ERO, others citing compressed 8‑week cohorts or different HSISAT durations), so any exact week‑by‑week matrix requires access to internal syllabi that sources say are not fully public ^{[1] [4] [2]}. Coverage also highlights political and recruitment pressures — expansions, signing bonuses and executive orders have driven rapid curriculum updates and even elimination of some language tracks in certain years — revealing an implicit agenda to scale operations quickly that can alter the week‑by‑week balance between classroom and field time ^{[2] [4]}.

6. Bottom line and how to interpret contrasts

The practical difference is clear: ERO’s week sequence is designed to produce officers ready for immediate enforcement, deportation logistics and repeated tactical operations, while HSI’s sequence is structured to produce investigators capable of building complex criminal cases and coordinating prosecutions; however, precise week‑by‑week lesson titles and hours are inconsistently reported and largely confidential, so this analysis synthesizes available public descriptions rather than an agency syllabus dump ^{[1] [3] [4]}.