ICE Offering 'Citizens Academy' Course with Training on Arresting Immigrants

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The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is set to launch a six-week "Citizens Academy" course on immigration enforcement, which will include training for citizens on how to arrest undocumented immigrants.

A letter published online by The St. Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America (IFCLA) appears to show ICE Chicago Field Office Director Robert Guadian inviting shareholders to participate in the course, which includes six days of training over a six-week period starting in September.

"You have been identified as a valued member of the community who may have interest in participating in the inaugural class of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Chicago Citizens Academy," the letter states.

Noting that the program is "the first of its kind," Guadian states that the program will "serve as a pilot for nationwide implementation."

During the training, stakeholders would receive training on a number of "facets and responsibilities of ICE/ERO operations," he says.

Included in the course would be training in "defensive tactics, firearms familiarization and targeted arrests."

The training would be "scenario-based," he states, adding that exercises would be "conducted in a safe and positive environment."

In a statement sent to Newsweek, ICE spokesperson Nicole Alberico said the academy was "an extension of the community relations work ICE is already doing in the community."

"The goal is to build bridges with the community by offering a day-in-the-life perspective of a federal law enforcement agency," she said.

Alberico said the programming was modeled after other academies including those run by the Homeland Security Investigations unit, as well as by the FBI and local police departments "all with the goal of directly engaging and educating the public."

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