ICE's 'Athletically Allergic' Recruits

[Celerity]

Push-ups, sit-ups, and a brisk jog pose a threat to Trump’s deportation campaign.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/10/ice-recruits-fitness-test-trump/684625/

https://archive.ph/lPHjz



President Donald Trump’s plan to double the size of the ICE workforce has met a foe more powerful than any activist group. It is decimating new recruits at the agency’s training academy in Georgia. It is the ICE personal-fitness test. More than a third have failed so far, four officials told me, impeding the agency’s plan to hire, train, and deploy 10,000 deportation officers by January. To pass, recruits must do 15 push-ups and 32 sit-ups, and run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes.

“It’s pathetic,” one career ICE official told me, adding that before now, a typical class of 40 recruits had only a couple of candidates fail, because the screening process was more rigorous. The academy’s standards have already been eased to boost recruitment, he said, and the new parameters “should be the minimum for any officer.” He and others, none of whom were authorized to speak with reporters, told me that agency veterans are concerned about the quality of the new recruits being fast-tracked onto the street to meet Trump’s hiring goals.

An email from ICE headquarters to the agency’s top officials on October 5 lamented that “a considerable amount of athletically allergic candidates” had been showing up to the academy; they had “misrepresented” their physical condition on application forms. The email directed leaders at ICE’s field offices to conduct preliminary fitness exams with new recruits before sending them to the academy. “We all know the self-certification method has failed,” Ralph Ferguson, an operations official at ICE headquarters, wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told me in a statement that the one-third failure rate reflected only “a subset of candidates in initial basic academy classes,” and not all new hires. She said DHS expects to fill 85 percent of new deportation-officer positions with experienced law-enforcement officials whom they can fast-track. Although they will not be required to pass a fitness test at the ICE academy, “they remain subject to medical, fitness, and background requirements,” McLaughlin wrote.

snip

[Aristus]

1. Run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes? Those are rock-bottom physical fitness standards.

I can walk 1.5 miles in 6 minutes! And I'm fifty-seven!

[Celerity]

2. Zero per cent chance you can walk 1.5 miles in 6 minutes. That's maintaining a 4 minute-per-mile pace for 50% longer.

The world record for running a mile is 3:43.13, set in 1999.

[Traildogbob]

4. Thank you.

Ya beat me to it by one lost. I gotta question that walk pace, from years of experience. Pre would question that time.

[Traildogbob]

3. Wait a minute

I have been a competitive distance runner for 40 years. A 6 minute per mile run if freaking tough, and a 10K at 6 per mile would place high as a finisher. Walking 1.5 miles at 6???? Not saying you are not honest, but that is senior Olympic numbers. Kudos to you if you can.
I trained WildLand firefighters, and they had to carry a 50 pound pack, “The Pack Test” required walking, can’t run with that pack on, and 6 per mile would pass them. With a Wow!!

[Aristus]

6. Well, it was an estimate. Looks like a bad one. I take my admonishment humbly.

I can definitely walk it in 14 minutes, though.

[Traildogbob]

7. No worries.

All us road racers live by the per mile standards.
6 per was my PR for a 10 K. Trained my ass off for that on a favorable10K course.
14 for 1.5 is not too tough but those J6ers could not do it. Without meth.
Keep walking Aristus. At any pace to get outside and away from media.
Cheers.

[COL Mustard]

9. This is what happens

When you recruit from Meal Team 6, or from the Gravy Seals.

[KentuckyWoman]

13. HA... I can't walk a mile at all.

I'm in my 80s and had a few falls. It happens. But I'd dare say even without the aid of the walker I could beat out most of the MAGA half my age in these parts for the first 200 yards. After that, all bets are off.

I'm not much for fat shaming but the truth is obesity and lack of physical activity really is a big problem in this country. This thing with ICE recruitment is just another reality check for all of us.

[Traildogbob]

14. You rock KentuckyWoman

I have no doubts at 80 you can beat many.
My HOA sent a picture today from our regional Local Fire Department that has been upgrading their department to better fight fires and protect us.
Much respect to them and their willingness to protect us.
But all had to be over 55+ years old, looked like a hard core maga rally, average weight 275, two were around 5’ tall and over 300 pounds.
Nothing like the Chicago Fire TV beautiful model level men and women. Probably no Calendar pix of these local hero’s, yes, still hero’s, overweight, old and MAGA, but no others are out there to do it.
Those Guard troops exiting the truck that just got fired, were fit in comparison.
Unfortunately what most can afford to eat is corporate fat inducing sugar filled junk, That send the victims of that diet to our cash greedy health care crooks.
AmurKKK’s Circle of Life, or death.
You keep being bad ass KentuckyWoman.

[leftstreet]

5. Why the FUCK do they need 10,000 officers?

ABOLISH ICE

[belpejic]

8. Meal Team Six

It has moved from meme to reality...

[jmowreader]

10. What do they do if you fail this? Call for a coroner?

I haven't done a push-up in anger in a whole lotta years, but I'm pretty sure I could knock out fifteen in two minutes right now.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

11. 1.5 miles in 14 minutes is 9 minutes 20 seconds per mile

Slow for a competitive distance runner but someone who has to apprehend people should be able to run that fast.

Then there's these idiots.

[KentuckyWoman]

12. Physical fitness is the least of our worries

The behavior of ICE out in the field is absolutely appalling. They aren't making any attempt to make sure the people they hire are mentally and emotionally fit for the job. In fact, it seems they go out of their way to hire whacks eager to maim and kill people.

The perpetual low accountability among local and state police is what spawned BLM marches - with not a lot of improvement I might say. With ICE it is SO bad that even local law enforcement is having to take steps to protect people from ICE in some cases.

This admin WANTS people who can and will "start shit". They've got camera crews running around with ICE to use the chaos they create to produce the propaganda films they need to keep up the grift and justify militarizing one city after the next.