ICE Program Trains Civilians on Firearms

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) A Secretive ICE Program Trains Civilians on Firearms and Surveillance

This program started during the Obama administration in 2014, continued by the Trump administration and seems to still exist as late as 2022, but perhaps not as active as it was before.

https://documentedny.com/2024/10/01/ice-immigration-train-citizens-academy/

Started in 2014 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the academies were “fully implement[ed]” across ICE field offices during the Trump administration. The program was paused in 2020, when the other branch of ICE, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) — whose mission is to arrest and deport non-citizens — announced an academy in Chicago.

The program’s 2022 Communications Plan lists the types of people ICE seeks to attract: “Media, Hill, academic leaders, business/community leaders, prosecutors and local and state law enforcement, local citizens, non-governmental organizations.”

One of the goals, Blaser said, was to shape the media coverage around ICE’s operations — some very controversial, especially during the Trump administration.