A former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lawyer who was responsible for training new deportation officers warned lawmakers on Monday that the ICE training program is “deficient, defective and broken.”
Watch the opening statement by Ryan Schwank in the video player above.
Ryan Schwank testified in a forum held by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Robert Garcia.
WATCH: U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents describe how they were treated
“I am here because I am duty-bound to report the legally required training program at the ICE academy is deficient, defective and broken,” Schwank said.
He testified that he had volunteered to take on an assignment in Georgia training new, inexperienced recruits.
“On my first day, I received secretive orders to teach new cadets to violate the Constitution by entering homes without a judicial warrant. For the last five months, I watched ICE dismantle the training program, cutting 240 hours of vital classes from a 584-hour program,” he said.
The Trump administration has worked to recruit, train and deploy new immigration officers at a rapid pace. ICE announced in January that it had hired more than 12,000 new officers in the past year, more than doubling its force.
The recent fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by immigration enforcement officers, as well as allegations of excessive force used against both immigrants and protesters, prompted Democrats to demand new negotiations over Department of Homeland Security funding and ICE tactics. Congress is still at a stalemate over any funding deal for DHS, as the partial government shutdown drags on.
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