GLYNCO, Georgia — In the coming months, 10,000 recruits hired by Immigration and Customs Enforcement will pass through the federal agency’s training academy in coastal Georgia before fanning out across the country to carry out President Donald Trump’s deportation agenda.
At the facility, the newest officers from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations arm will undergo an eight-week training course covering topics ranging from immigration law to firearms and driving safety before they are sent to a field office to begin working alongside their peers.
The Washington Examiner took part in an all-day tour of the 5,400-acre Federal Law Enforcement Training Center on Thursday, accompanied by acting ICE Director Todd Lyons.
The center, known as FLETC, is located between Jacksonville, Florida, and Savannah, Georgia. Every year, FLETC hosts 68,000 students from 105 federal law enforcement agencies to be trained on-site, with about 3,000 on campus at any given time. Students who graduate will come back for additional training throughout their careers.
Lyons compared FLETC to a college campus where students, despite studying various topics, are together in one setting. In this case, incoming and tenured employees from agencies such as the Secret Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Marshals Service live in a single community for several weeks or months as they complete certifications and trainings.
Inside the secured perimeter, the campus boasts dormitories and apartment housing; a cafeteria able to accommodate thousands of students and staff; a state-of-the-art gym, large indoor pool, and physical training center; firearms training facilities; four driver training tracks; a main street and neighborhood set for active shooter and emergency response training; expansive educational buildings; and recreation sites, including a baseball field.
When not in class, students can check out paddleboards and kayaks, among other equipment, for recreation. As government employees, recruits may come and go from the campus as they please when not in class or training.
As part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, ICE received $29.9 billion for hiring staff, transporting illegal immigrants, and detaining families. On the hiring front, the money was intended for 10,000 new staff who specifically enforce immigration law within the United States.
Before officers arrive on campus, located inside the small city of Brunswick, they will complete two weeks of online courses.
Basic training for all incoming ICE recruits is eight weeks long. It used to include an additional five weeks of Spanish language classes, but that was recently rescinded and replaced with a translation service for officers in the field.
Caleb Vitello, the former acting director of ICE who was moved by the Trump administration earlier this year to oversee ICE deportation officer training at FLETC, said training has been streamlined to address the increase in recruits.
Depending on the number of arrivals, the site can expand its trainings to two to three shifts per day and have instructors available seven days a week, Vitello said.
Upon completion, officers will be matched with a certified trainer for whichever location they are assigned to and continue training in a real-life environment.
Lyons and Vitello did not provide an estimate on how long it would take for all 10,000 new recruits to be hired and trained at FLETC. The agency has received 121,000 applications since mid-July, Lyons said Thursday.
ICE incentivized the public to apply with offers of hiring bonuses as large as $50,000 and $60,000 in student loan repayment, and also took steps such as removing the age limit and opening the program up to candidates who are not college graduates. The result has been 12 times as many applicants as are needed, which Lyons said allows them to “be picky” about who they ultimately hire.
The goal of training is to ensure new employees grasp immigration law and how to carry out duties from the beginning stages of arrest and detention to final removal. ICE is only responsible for enforcing certain federal laws, not state or local ones, such as traffic offenses.
Officers are trained in law enforcement regulations, defensive techniques, and how to process immigrants in their custody, carry out at-large operations on the street, and operate firearms. Vitello said the goal for ICE officers who interact with the public is not to use force as they speak with people about their immigration status.
“You’d rather de-escalate with words before you have to use any use of force,” Lyons said.
To graduate, officers must complete an obstacle course in under 1 minute and 45 seconds, among many other requirements. While it is not a military-style course, Lyons said the point is to prepare trainees for situations where they might have to quickly get out of their government vehicle to chase someone, jump a fence, crawl through a window, or carry their injured partner a distance.
Inside a nearby training center that will soon be doubled by 40,000 square feet, recruits learn hand-to-hand combat and can access state-of-the-art gym equipment across multiple large rooms.
Vitello said one of FLETC’s newest priorities is training for mental and physical wellness today and in 20 years, though officials did not provide details on how mental health is being prioritized.
Officials showed where recruits will go through a driving course and learn how to maneuver in poor weather conditions and high-speed chases.
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The campus contains a movie set-like area with a pretend neighborhood and main street for trainees to act out rescue situations and serve warrants. ICE’s Special Response Team demonstrated how trainees had been taught to descend on a residential home.
The site has 18 firearm ranges and expends 39 million rounds of ammunition annually for students and returning officers to learn on and master.
