How long are ice agents trained currently in 2026
Executive summary
As of early 2026 the public record presents a contested picture: ICE’s basic Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) recruit training is described in multiple contemporary reports as an eight‑week program (roughly six to eight weeks), while investigative reporting and oversight sources say the agency compressed components of training—at times characterized as a 47‑day or “around six weeks” timeline—during the 2025 hiring surge, and DHS has publicly denied a formal cut to an eight‑week course [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. What the agency says: an eight‑week “basic” ERO course
Multiple outlets reporting statements from DHS or ICE officials say the baseline Basic Immigration Law Enforcement training for new ERO officers lasts approximately eight weeks, with at least one DHS official quoted denying that formal training had been cut and reiterating an eight‑week figure [1] [2] [5]. Fortune and People cite an eight‑week Basic Immigration Law Enforcement Training Program and note intensive schedules during that window [5] [1].
2. What investigative reporting found: compressed schedules and a 47‑day figure
Longform reporting in The Atlantic and follow‑on summaries claimed that, amid a 2025 hiring blitz, ICE compressed training so that new ERO hires completed the essentials in roughly 47 days—an arrangement the Atlantic said amounted to “roughly half” of prior training lengths and was achieved by removing language instruction and compressing FLETC components [6] [2] [1]. That 47‑day figure has circulated widely and been cited by critics as evidence training was truncated during the mass recruitment push [6] [2].
3. Oversight and watchdog accounts: “around six weeks” and internal concern
Government Executive and other oversight reporting describe the operational effect of the hiring surge as shortening training from prior six‑month timelines to “around six weeks” so staff could be deployed rapidly, and note that the DHS inspector general launched reviews of the hiring and training process [3]. Congressional demands for answers and oversight letters likewise underscore that lawmakers see a meaningful change in how quickly recruits have been put into the field [7] [8].
4. Different programs, different durations: HSI vs. ERO distinctions
Some published career guides conflate ICE components: Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents historically attend longer Federal Law Enforcement Training Center programs—often described as a combination of a 12‑week Criminal Investigator Training Program plus a 15‑week HSI agent course—yielding a roughly 27‑week sequence that applies to HSI special agents, not front‑line ERO removal officers [9]. That longer timetable explains part of the discrepancy in public reporting when sources fail to distinguish HSI special‑agent pipelines from ERO basic training [9].
5. The contested truth and the political frame
The disagreement in sources reflects competing pressures: The Atlantic and watchdog reporting document concrete changes during a large 2025 hiring surge that compressed elements of recruit instruction [6] [3], while DHS and some coverage cite the basic program length as eight weeks and deny a formal political “cut” to training [2] [1]. Political actors have layered meaning onto those facts—critics warn rapid, “wartime” recruitment and bonuses could lower standards [5], while defenders stress split‑second force decisions follow training—creating an environment where the raw number (47 days, ~6 weeks, or 8 weeks) becomes a proxy in a larger debate over policy, oversight and safety [10] [5].
6. Bottom line for 2026 reporting
Contemporaneous public reporting supports this consolidated conclusion: new ERO officers are nominally on an eight‑week basic training track according to DHS/ICE statements and several news outlets, but investigative reporting and oversight documents show that, in practice during the 2025 hiring surge, components were compressed into a condensed roughly 47‑day-to‑6‑week deployment timeline—an approach now under inspector‑general review and congressional scrutiny [1] [2] [6] [3] [7]. Sources differ by which cohort and program they describe (ERO vs. HSI), so precise training time depends on the ICE component and whether one measures calendar weeks in a consolidated course or the aggregated instructional hours spread across FLETC and agency training [9] [6].