In FY2010, nearly 4,000 ICE employees were trained in more than 30 training programs.
Training is a major component of any Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent’s career, as is evident by the new ICE Academy Complex at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia.
The ICE Academy Complex, which was opened in late 2011, was created specifically for the training and preparation of ICE’s special agents and officers who enforce the country’s immigration and customs laws.
The ICE Academy at FLETC, said ICE Director John Morton, provides recruits with the “specialized training needed to work as part of the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.” He also said that the ICE Academy serves as a “vital first step to providing a strong educational foundation” as to prepare new recruits “to take on all types of law enforcement challenges.”
The ICE Academy, a collaborative effort between ICE and FLETC, is the result of a $2.5 million renovation that includes in a state-of-the-art learning facility, which includes a three-story building with four computer labs, two electronics labs, two breakout rooms, and nine classrooms. The ICE Academy now serves as a central hub for all basic and specialized training programs for ICE agents.
The new complex houses two of the agency’s basic training programs: ICE Enforcement and Removal Basic Law Enforcement Training and ICE Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Training. It also includes a number of specialized programs that center on technical enforcement, instructor development courses, and Spanish language courses.
Training for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents: Basic Training Programs
All new hires of ICE are required to attend 22 weeks of basic training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia. The formal FLETC training program involves basic technical instructions that must be completed to continue as an ICE agent. Trainees are also expected to undergo regular physical fitness assessments during training.
The basic training programs for new ICE hires include:
ICE Training School Program: Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP)
The Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP), a 56-day program, provides training in the concepts and techniques of conducting criminal investigations, which includes lecture, practical exercises, laboratories and exams. Trainees within the program participate in small task force teams involved in a continuing case investigation. The task force teams: interview witnesses; perform surveillance and undercover operation; develop cases; write and execute search and arrest warrants; write criminal complaints; testify in a courtroom hearing; and obtain an indictment. All trainees in the CITP receive mentoring by a Continuing Case Investigation Coordinator.
Training topics in the CITP include:
- Criminal case management
- Firearms
- Interviewing
- Legal training
- Physical evidence
- Physical techniques and conditioning
- Surveillance
- Tactical training
- Vehicle handling skills
All criminal investigators are expected to maintain firearm proficiency; therefore, all new criminal investigator hires must successfully complete the firearms component of the Criminal Investigation Training Program (CITP).
ICE Training School Program: Firearms Division
The Firearms Division provides basic and advanced training, which includes the proficient application and justifiable use of a firearm.
The Firearms Division includes more than 50 buildings that feature indoor and outdoor firing ranges, ammunitions and weapons storage, equipment, and supply storage spaces. The indoor and outdoor range complex has about 375 firing points for live fire training, and the numerous training ranges include interactive non-lethal ammunition ranges for scenario-based tactical firearms training and virtual firing ranges designed for enhanced marksmanship and tactical applications.
The FAD offers 8 advanced firearms training programs and more than 100 firearms courses, many of which are within the FLETC’s basic and advanced law enforcement training programs.
ICE Training School Program: Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deportation Integrated (ICED)
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deportation Integrated (ICED) program (formerly called the Immigration Officer Basic Training Course), a 63-day program, is designed for new ICE Immigration Enforcement Agency (IEA). Topics within the ICED program include:
- Detention procedures
- Immigration and naturalization laws
- Fingerprinting
- Defensive tactics
- Arrest techniques
- Baton techniques
- Officer liability
- Firearms handling and qualification
- Driver techniques
About the Office of Training and Development
The ICE Office of Training and Development is responsible for establishing and maintaining standards for all ICE training programs. It also ensures the accreditation of all ICE training programs and oversees training at the FLETC and through its online training programs.
The Office of Training and Development is also responsible for gathering data as to ensure the effectiveness of its training programs and for integrating the agency’s training programs to ensure the most efficient use of resources and assets.
The major responsibilities of the Office of Training and Development include: technical programs, educational programs, and career development programs, all of which are designed to build upon the leadership, skills, abilities and knowledge of ICE employees and the national security mission of the agency.