How has ICE firearms training evolved since 2020?
Executive summary
Since 2020 ICE’s firearms training shows two simultaneous trends: a pullback from controversial civilian-facing programs that drew public backlash, and continued institutional consolidation and modernization within the agency’s professional training apparatus, driven by the Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs (OFTP) and documented directives [1] [2] [3]. Public records and reporting describe a paused “Citizens Academy” program for civilians after 2020 even as ICE’s internal firearms doctrine and OFTP structure remained active and updated [1] [3] [2].
1. Institutional consolidation and renewed centralization of professional training
ICE’s OFTP is the centralized office responsible for specialized firearms and tactical training, and by 2025 it is publicly described as providing policy, equipment and support to promote officer and public safety across ICE operations, reflecting continued institutional investment in professionalized training after 2020 [2]. The 2021 ICE Firearms and Use of Force Handbook sets formal roles—Firearms Instructors, Defensive Tactics Instructors, Field Maintenance Armorers—and requires specific ICE certification pathways for those positions, indicating doctrine and qualification standards that persisted through and after 2020 [3].
2. The Citizens Academy controversy: civilian training paused amid backlash
Reporting based on internal documents found that ICE ran a secretive Citizens Academy program training civilians in firearms, surveillance and use-of-force topics through roughly 2017–2020, but the program was paused in 2020 after community and immigrant-rights mobilization, including a canceled Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) pilot in Chicago [1] [4]. Investigations estimate roughly 200 civilians were trained up to 2020 and describe scenario-based exercises including firearms familiarization and role-playing simulations—claims that sparked sharp public scrutiny and helped drive the program’s suspension [1] [5].
3. Doctrine and curriculum: emphasis on use-of-force standards and role specialization
ICE’s formal handbook and internal materials emphasize detailed use-of-force guidance and role-based instructor certifications—language that remained in effect in the early-2020s documents reviewed—showing that ICE’s internal training apparatus continued to codify who may teach, certify and maintain firearms and when deadly force is authorized [3]. The Citizens Academy materials reportedly included presentations on ICE’s official use-of-force guidelines and tactical demonstrations, which critics noted blurred lines between public outreach and paramilitary instruction [1] [4].
4. Transparency, secrecy and competing narratives about civilian involvement
Investigative reports describe the Citizens Academy as “secretive,” showing ICE trained civilians in tactics and firearms and that some training sites used local police ranges, yet ICE canceled public-facing pilots amid protests in 2020; advocates argue the program endangered immigrant communities while ICE framed academies as community outreach, creating conflicting interpretations of intent and risk [1] [4] [5]. ICE’s public OFTP materials, by contrast, emphasize officer training and safety without promotion of civilian academies, revealing a divergence between public-facing policy and the previously documented civilian program [2] [1].
5. Aftermath, oversight questions and information gaps
By 2022 and into 2025, documents show internal objectives tied to experiential training, but public reporting and FOIA releases also make clear that Citizens Academies have not been run widely since the 2020 suspension, and oversight groups continue to demand clarity about past curricula and accountability for tactics taught [1] [4]. Available sources document doctrine and an active OFTP, but do not provide a complete public timeline of all program modifications after 2020 nor definitive ICE statements reconciling internal 2022 documents with the post-2020 public posture, leaving meaningful gaps for independent verification [3] [2].
6. Bottom line: professional modernization, civilian pause, persistent controversy
Since 2020 ICE has doubled down on formalizing instructor roles and maintaining an OFTP-driven training infrastructure while suspending the most controversial civilian-facing Citizens Academy pilots after community pushback; investigations and advocacy groups continue to flag the secrecy and content of past civilian training as a subject of oversight and public concern, and public records through 2025 confirm both the internal consolidation and the unresolved transparency questions [3] [1] [2].