ICE AI error sends new recruits into field offices without proper training: Sources

WASHINGTON, DC: An internal error at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unintentionally placed some new agency recruits into field offices without completing their required training, law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The mistake underscores growing concerns about how the agency has expanded its workforce amid the Trump administration’s push to increase enforcement capacity.

An AI error placed officers with inadequate training

While ICE scrambled to hire 10,000 new officers, an AI glitch in the application process pushed a bunch of recruits into field offices before they got proper training.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrest an undocumented person in New York City on April 11, 2025 (Getty Images)

That’s what two law enforcement officials who know about the mistake told NBC News.

ICE had an AI tool picking out applicants with law enforcement backgrounds for its ‘LEO program,’ which stands for law enforcement officer.

The idea was to slot experienced recruits into this program, which comes with four weeks of online training. But the system glitched, and people landed in the field without going through the training first.

The standard training for recruits without prior law enforcement experience is an eight-week in-person course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), which includes immigration law, firearms instruction, physical fitness, and policing fundamentals.

“They were using AI to scan resumes and found out a bunch of the people who were LEOs weren’t LEOs,” one of the officials said.

Some with no experience put on field

The tool was supposed to sort out candidates who’d already worked in enforcement from complete newcomers. If someone had real officer experience, they’d get a shorter online course.

Total beginners had to go through the full academy in Georgia. But that’s not what happened.

Instead, the tool just picked up on anyone with ‘officer’ in their job title, like “compliance officer,” or even people who just listed the title as an ambition, whether they’d actually worked in law enforcement or not.

The majority of the new applicants were flagged as law enforcement officers, the officials said, but many had no experience in any local police or federal law enforcement force.

Both law enforcement officials said ICE’s field offices train officers even more after the academy or online courses, before they ever hit the street. The officers flagged by the AI tool probably went through that extra training.

Since the officials weren’t allowed to talk publicly, they spoke to NBC News anonymously.

ICE officials have since identified the issue and have begun recalling affected recruits for the full training regimen.

“They now have to bring them back to FLETC,” said one of the officials, referring to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.