Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers now typically train for about six to eight weeks , which works out to roughly 47–48 training days , depending on the specific program and schedule.

Quick Scoop: How Long Do ICE Agents Train?

Today’s big point: training time for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers has been significantly shortened compared with the past.

  • Older standard: about five months of training for new deportation officers (roughly 20 weeks), including language and law‑enforcement coursework.
  • Current standard reported by DHS/ICE: about eight weeks at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), usually six days a week , which equals around 47–48 days of instruction.
  • Investigative reports and officials have also described it as “47 days ” of academy training, spread across eight weeks.

So when people ask “how long do ICE agents train?” , they’re usually talking about this roughly six‑to‑eight‑week academy period , which is much shorter than it used to be.

What Changed Recently?

Over the last few years, multiple news outlets and officials have described a deliberate push to speed up hiring and shorten training for ICE officers.

Key changes highlighted in reports:

  • Training cut from about five months down to roughly eight weeks.
  • Some Spanish‑language courses were removed , with DHS saying language needs would be filled by translation tools and services instead.
  • Officials described the program as “streamlined” to remove redundancy and rely more on on‑the‑job training and technology.
  • A homeland security expert noted training had gone from around 16 weeks to six or six‑and‑a‑half weeks in practice, meaning many new recruits hit the field with far less preparation than before.

An example often cited is that in 2018 basic ICE officer training was around 20 weeks , but more recent DHS statements say it is now about eight weeks.

How Does That Compare to Other Training?

Public discussion has focused on how short ICE training now looks next to other law‑enforcement academies.

Here’s a simple comparison:

[3][7][1][2][5] [1][2][5] [4] [5] [5]
Role / Agency Approx. Academy Length
ICE officer (current) About 8 weeks, ~47–48 days of training.
ICE officer (earlier standard) About 5 months of training.
FBI agent (Quantico) About 16 weeks.
Minneapolis Police Department About 14–16 weeks.
St. Paul Police Department About 5 months.
Online threads and forums have pointed out that some private‑sector jobs, like certain **collections or customer‑service roles** , can have training programs that last about **six weeks** , which is now comparable to ICE’s compressed academy time.

Why Are People Talking About This Now?

The training issue is trending in early 2026 for a serious reason: a fatal shooting in Minneapolis involving an ICE officer sparked sharp scrutiny of how prepared these agents really are.

Commentary in news stories and expert interviews has raised concerns that:

  • Compressing training leaves less time for practicing tactics, scenario‑based judgment, and de‑escalation.
  • Shortened academies may shift more learning into the field , where mistakes can have real‑world consequences.
  • Internal critics have described parts of the approach as “cowboy ” – emphasizing speed, numbers, and spectacle over caution and deep preparation.

At the same time, DHS and ICE maintain that:

  • The “streamlined” curriculum still covers the same core subjects and standards.
  • New hires will receive ongoing on‑the‑job training , mentoring, and refreshers after leaving the academy.

One‑Sentence TL;DR

Modern ICE agents typically receive around six to eight weeks (about 47–48 days) of academy training , down from roughly five months in previous years, and that sharp reduction is now under intense public debate.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.