What are the minimum physical fitness test (PFT) benchmarks for new ICE agents during academy training?
Executive summary
ICE’s academy-era Physical Fitness Test (PFT) for enforcement trainees uses four core events — push‑ups, sit‑ups, a 220‑yard sprint, and a 1.5‑mile run — and requires minimum scores in each event; failing any single event means failing the entire PFT [1]. Reporting about recent academy classes says more than one‑third of recruits failed the basic fitness requirements, which outlets summarized as minimums like 15 push‑ups, 32 sit‑ups, and a 1.5‑mile run under 14 minutes [2] [3].
1. What the official PFT consists of — the events you must clear
ICE’s publicly described PFT for law‑enforcement hires (including HSI Special Agent guidance) consists of four timed events: sit‑ups, push‑ups, a 220‑yard sprint, and a 1.5‑mile run; all events are administered in one session with short rests between them and you must meet the minimum in every event to pass [1] [4]. The HSI video and ICE pages explain protocol, required paperwork, and that failing to meet a minimum on any event constitutes failing the entire PFT [4] [5].
2. Reported minimum benchmarks circulating in 2025 coverage
News reporting and aggregators have published concrete minimums in recent coverage: one summary widely cited states minimums of roughly 15 push‑ups, 32 sit‑ups, and completing the 1.5‑mile run in under 14 minutes — figures repeated in Newsweek’s account responding to reporting about recruits failing the test [2]. Independent guides and prep sites also list the same four events and promote training toward minimum scores, consistent with the public description of the test [1] [6].
3. How reliably those numeric minimums are sourced
The numeric benchmarks (e.g., 15 push‑ups, 32 sit‑ups, sub‑14:00 1.5‑mile) appear in mainstream reporting summarizing academy standards and in secondary prep materials, but the ICE pages provided emphasize the event list and the rule that each minimum must be met; the site copy available to us documents the testing process and policy on failing but does not present an itemized table of numeric cutoffs in the snippets we have [4] [1] [5]. Therefore, while reporting (Newsweek, The Atlantic) explicitly states those numbers, the official ICE links in the supplied record focus on procedures and video guidance rather than a plainly quoted, complete numeric table [4] [2] [3].
4. Consequences and retesting policy during selection and academy
ICE guidance cited here says selectees who fail may be removed from the hiring process and that trainees must pass the PFT upon entry into the HSI Academy to graduate; some sources note a retest window may be permitted in certain circumstances but failing to attain the designated minimum for any event constitutes failing the entire PFT [4] [1]. News reporting about recent academies indicates DHS/ICE asserts it has not lowered standards and is moving fitness checks earlier in training [2].
5. Context: why fitness standards matter and recent reporting on failures
The Atlantic and other outlets frame the fitness standard in operational terms: deportation and enforcement work can involve chasing and physical confrontations, so minimum fitness matters for safety and effectiveness; those pieces reported internal emails describing many “athletically allergic” candidates at recent academies and said over one‑third failed basic fitness requirements [3] [7]. DHS publicly responded that recruits must meet Physical Ability Assessment standards and that the agency is not lowering standards [2].
6. Practical takeaways for applicants and trainers
Prepare for four events run consecutively: timed sit‑ups, timed push‑ups, a short 220‑yard sprint, and a 1.5‑mile run, and train to clear the commonly reported minimums (e.g., ~15 push‑ups, ~32 sit‑ups, <14:00 1.5‑mile) cited in recent reporting; bring required forms and medical clearances to the test or you will be scored as failing [1] [4]. Training programs and commercial plans explicitly aim at these events and minimums — useful for practice but remember they are secondary sources [8] [6].
Limitations and disagreements in the record: the ICE procedural pages in our set clearly describe the event list, failure policy, and documentation requirements, but the official snippets provided do not show a full, definitive numeric chart of minimums — those numbers come from journalistic reporting and prep guides included here [4] [2] [1]. If you want the agency’s authoritative, complete numeric table, available sources do not mention a single official, fully enumerated score sheet in the excerpts provided; consult ICE’s official PFT web page or the HSI PFT video linked by DHS/ICE for the definitive current standards [4] [5].