1 of 5 | Markwayne Mullin, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Troy Edgar, deputy secretary, are shown Wednesday during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on the fiscal year 2027 budget request for DHS in the Canon House Office Building near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
June 3 (UPI) -- Markwayne Mullin, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will have to undergo more than 500 hours of training again, a return to the amount the department originally required.
"We had to rewrite the curriculum," Mullin told members ofthe House Homeland Security Committee. "All training starting July 1 will be back up to the regular standards."
News agencies first reported in early May that this change might be on the way. In fall 2025, ICE cut training for its officers from 584 hours to 336 hours, a move that came as part of a hiring push that brought in hundreds of new ICE agents. Senate Democrats released documents showing the cuts earlier this year, The New York Times reported.
The cuts were criticized by Democrats and some others, as critics said recruits did not receive enough training on how to handle firearms, First Amendment rights or other issues. Many people have called for ICE to be reformed or abolished, especially after ICE agents killed two U.S. citizens in January in Minneapolis. Then, in February, the Times reported, a former ICE attorney publicly criticized the changes in training at a forum in Washington, D.C.
