Particle.news
Download on the App Store
10 ARTICLES
·
2d ago

ICE Hiring Push Stumbles as Over a Third of Academy Recruits Fail Basic Fitness Test

DHS says most new deportation officers will be experienced hires fast-tracked outside the academy test.

A man does push-ups in front of US Marines and Customs and Border Protection officers.
Federal agents clash with anti-I.C.E. protesters at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on October 12, 2025 in Portland, Oregon.
Image
Image

Overview

  • Internal messages on October 5 flagged applicants who misrepresented their condition as "athletically allergic," prompting ICE to move fitness checks earlier in training.
  • The academy test cited in reports requires 15 push-ups, 32 sit-ups and a 1.5-mile run in roughly 14 minutes, with the run accounting for many failures, officials said.
  • DHS disputes that the failure rate reflects the broader hiring pool and says about 85 percent of new positions will be filled by experienced law‑enforcement personnel who follow streamlined validation.
  • Field offices have been told to reassign recruits who fail into lower‑fitness roles where possible or to revoke offers if no suitable placement exists, according to legal guidance.
  • ICE reports more than 175,000 applications, is offering up to $50,000 in bonuses and has shortened in‑person academy time to about eight weeks as it targets roughly 10,000 deportation officers by January.