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How long does the ICE basic training academy last for new hires?
Executive summary
ICE’s basic training for Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) deportation officers is described in agency releases as either 16 weeks (Basic Immigration Enforcement Training Program / BIETP) or 20 weeks in different ICE statements; ICE’s June 4, 2025 release says “The Program lasts for 16 weeks” and trainees may also face a 25‑day Spanish course [1], while a June 12, 2025 ICE release states ERO deportation officers attend a 20‑week basic training at FLETC [2]. Available sources do not reconcile why both durations appear in ICE communications, and reporting from other outlets about daily hours or curriculum detail varies [3].
1. Conflicting official durations: 16 weeks vs. 20 weeks
ICE’s own public materials issued in June 2025 contain two different timelines for ERO basic training: a news release titled “ICE Academy instructors teach prospective deportation officers” states the Basic Immigration Enforcement Training Program lasts 16 weeks and notes a supplemental 25‑day Spanish requirement or testing option [1]. Less than ten days later, a separate ICE release about the Glynco operations describes ERO deportation officers attending a 20‑week basic training at FLETC [2]. Both items are ICE publications; the discrepancy is explicit in current reporting [1][2].
2. Why the difference matters — operational surge and capacity
The length of basic training affects how quickly ICE can onboard large cohorts: contemporaneous reporting about a hiring surge and plans to add thousands of officers underscores capacity pressure at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC). Government Executive reporting later in 2025 describes a surge to onboard 10,000 ERO personnel and related shifts in FLETC scheduling to prioritize immigration enforcement training [4]. In that environment, whether a class is 16 weeks or 20 weeks has concrete implications for throughput and scheduling [4].
3. Curriculum detail and additional course requirements
ICE’s 16‑week description also flags an additional 25‑day Spanish‑language course or the option to test out, meaning total time away from a field post can extend beyond a single stated program length [1]. Independent reporting that observed the academy offered comparatively limited blocks for certain legal topics — for example, around 12 hours of classroom instruction on constitutional and immigration law in one visit — suggests training is a mix of concentrated classroom hours and practical scenarios whose total calendar duration may be framed differently in different documents [3]. That difference in framing — “weeks on campus” versus “total classroom hours” — could help explain the divergent week counts, but available sources do not explicitly state that as the reason [1][3].
4. Past materials and third‑party descriptions add context but not resolution
Historical or third‑party descriptions of ICE/FLETC training emphasize the academy’s role and facilities but do not settle the 16 v. 20‑week contradiction. A former ICE handbook and FLETC overview describe rules, campuses and program structures without giving a single current canonical basic training duration [5][6]. Independent sites summarizing ICE training routines go back years and also don’t provide a definitive match to the June 2025 ICE statements [7]. Thus, current public materials contain mixed figures without a clear authoritative reconciliation [1][2].
5. Possible explanations and open questions
Competing—but plausible—explanations in the available reporting include: different cohorts or roles receive different course lengths (e.g., HSI agents have distinct, longer programs noted elsewhere), the 20‑week figure may include additional modules or remedial language training, or ICE updated program length between releases [2][1]. However, available sources do not explicitly confirm which of these explanations is correct; ICE does not provide a single clarifying statement in the supplied material [1][2].
6. What to look for if you need a definitive answer
For someone deciding on a job offer or researching onboarding timelines, the only way to resolve the discrepancy within the current record is to request the specific class order or offer letter language from ICE/Human Resources or consult the official training orders associated with your hire; public ICE releases here present both 16‑week and 20‑week figures but do not reconcile them [1][2]. Reporting about FLETC capacity and the administration’s surge priorities suggests schedules can change in response to hiring demands, which could produce differing public descriptions over time [4].
Limitations: this analysis relies solely on the supplied documents; available sources do not reconcile the 16‑ vs. 20‑week statements and do not provide a single definitive description of what calendar elements each number includes [1][2][3].