Surge Center Created to Help Train Influx of ICE Recruits
The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) denied media reports that most federal law enforcement training is on hold, except for officers who take part in immigration enforcement.
In a statement, FLETC said it’s setting up a Surge Training Operations Center to coordinate the training of the influx of immigration enforcement-related recruits coming on board, while also allowing it to maintain training for other federal agencies and for “state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies, as well as international partners, as space and resources allow.”
FLETC is charged with training and supporting the onboarding of 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) personnel and 1,000 ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) personnel by December 31, 2025, with the new hires coming from funding under the One Big Beautiful Bill.
The ICE recruits are training at FLETC’s primary campus in Glynco, Georgia, which currently trains recruits from more than 75 federal law enforcement agencies. The ICE recruits train for six days a week for eight weeks and receive additional training before and after they’re at FLETC.
“Well-Thought-Out Strategy”
In its statement, FLETC said it developed “a well-thought-out strategy” to get the new recruits trained and to actively support current training programs, noting that the Surge Training Operations Center will work daily to “address challenges, maximize resource utilization, and minimize disruptions to other training programs.”
It notes that some training schedules may be adjusted due to immigration-related training, and that classes will be rescheduled sometime in fiscal year 2026. And it says it’s also exploring additional training sites on a temporary basis.
The statement comes after GovExec reported that the Trump Administration froze most training at federal law enforcement academies unless it was for immigration personnel.
That article cited a memo from acting FLETC Director Paul Baker and deputy Ariana Roddini, which said that training for agencies not directly involved in immigration enforcement would be “rescheduled to later dates in Fiscal Year 2026.”