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What training and certification differ between HSI agents and ERO officers for using firearms and less-lethal weapons?
Executive summary
HSI special agents receive longer, more advanced federal criminal‑investigator training—generally the 12‑week FLETC Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP) plus an HSI Special Agent Training (HSISAT) follow‑on that includes extended firearms, tactical and investigative modules—while ERO officers historically train in a shorter, ERO‑specific basic academy focused on immigration enforcement and operational skills [1] [2]. Reporting and agency material note changes and surges in training capacity in 2025 but do not provide a single, authoritative table comparing firearms and less‑lethal certification hours between the two programs; available sources do not mention a full side‑by‑side curriculum comparison [3] [1].
1. HSI: investigative pipeline with extended firearms and tactical training
HSI special agents attend FLETC’s CITP for roughly 12 weeks and then an HSI‑specific follow‑on (HSISAT) that adds about 15 weeks of agent‑level training; HSISAT emphasizes criminal and immigration law, surveillance and undercover operations, physical conditioning, tactical techniques and firearms qualification as core components of getting agents ready for complex, often high‑risk investigations [1] [2]. The HSI academy material explicitly states HSISAT prepares trainees for “physically demanding work” with weekly conditioning and tactical firearms training; HSI also runs specialized programs such as active‑shooter and instructor development courses [1] [4].
2. ERO: mission‑focused, shorter basic academy oriented to removal operations
ERO hires historically completed an ERO basic immigration law enforcement academy focused on deportation operations, detention/transport, immigration law, and operational tactics rather than the broader criminal investigator curriculum; some public descriptions list a 16‑week ERO program or variations including language training for Deportation Officers, though reporting shows academy lengths and course offerings shifted in 2024–2025 [2] [5]. Reporting referenced a 2025 reduction in ERO academy duration and cuts to language training, but precise current firearms or less‑lethal hours per trainee were not published in the supplied material [5].
3. Certification and less‑lethal training: instructor courses and recertification exist but vary by program
National and state provider courses (e.g., NTOA, Combined Systems, CLEET) show established instructor and recertification pathways for less‑lethal tools—impact munitions, OC aerosols, chemical agents, and flash‑bang/FSDD—with many instructor certifications expiring and requiring recertification on multi‑year cycles (commonly four years per listed programs) [6] [7] [8] [9]. These external vendor and association programs are commonly used across agencies, but the sources do not state whether ERO or HSI require the same vendor certifications or how often ICE mandates recertification for officers vs. agents [6] [7].
4. Tactical teams and higher‑tier qualifications skew toward HSI agents
HSI maintains collateral tactical teams (SRT) within offices where agents must meet higher physical and firearms standards—examples include passing a physical fitness test, qualifying on multiple firearms at high scores while in full tactical gear, and an oral interview/vote process to join a certified team [5]. That structure points to a steeper path to specialized firearms and tactical roles inside HSI. Available reporting implies ERO has operational specialties but does not show a parallel, standardized SRT pipeline with the same nationalized requirements in the supplied sources [5].
5. Training capacity pressures and recent changes affect both components
Federal training capacity and political decisions in 2025 drove surges to onboard thousands of ERO and HSI personnel, prompting FLETC to reallocate classrooms, ranges and instructors; Government Executive reporting describes a focused surge to support 10,000 ERO and 1,000 HSI hires and potential rescheduling of non‑surge programs, which complicates comparisons because training lengths and content were adjusted to meet throughput demands [3] [10]. The Wikipedia summary in the search set also claims ERO academy reductions in 2025, but that source’s claims should be weighed against primary agency statements [5].
6. What the available sources do not tell us (important caveats)
The supplied reporting and agency pages do not provide a definitive, side‑by‑side breakdown of hours, exact firearm models issued, or the precise number of less‑lethal training hours for ERO versus HSI recruits; therefore, we cannot authoritatively state hour‑for‑hour differences or current make/model standardization for issued weapons from these sources (not found in current reporting) [1] [2] [5]. Online forums and secondary pieces note possible weapon transition chatter (e.g., 9mm discussion) but those are informal and not official policy statements [11].
Conclusion — practical takeaway for readers: HSI agents undergo a longer, investigation‑centric pipeline with more explicit tactical and firearms emphasis and higher‑tier team qualification pathways, while ERO’s academy historically centers on immigration enforcement tasks with a shorter, more operationally focused basic course; however, official and current curricular minutiae (exact firearms/less‑lethal hours, mandatory vendor certifications, or recertification intervals specific to each ICE component) are not fully laid out in the available sources [1] [2] [6].