PR initiative trains attendees in guns and deadly tactics; cultivates vigilantism and xenophobia, rights groups say

October 1, 2024, New York and Chicago – Internal documents shed light on the “Citizens Academy” programs, a controversial public relations initiative run by the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that began under the Obama administration and expanded under Trump. Obtained via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation, the records show ICE has recruited influential people – journalists, elected officials, law enforcement, business executives, and senior NGO staff – to attend multi-week programs where they train extensively with guns, learn immigration enforcement tactics, and roleplay agents, launching mock raids on immigrants. 

The documents – which detail a taxpayer-funded effort to depict ICE as heroic defenders of national security – surface amid increasing anti-immigrant incitement, hostility, and vigilantism. In September 2020, ICE canceled its plan for a pilot version of its Citizens Academy in Chicago under its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) after immigrant rights groups and community members mobilized against it. In 2021, Immigrant Defense Project and OCAD (Organized Communities Against Deportation) – with assistance from Beyond Legal Aid, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, and the Center for Constitutional Rights – submitted a FOIA request and followed with a lawsuit to compel ICE to release public records on Citizens Academies. 

“FOIA production has revealed  that ICE’s Citizens Academy program is a far-reaching propaganda effort that ICE has used to romanticize its violent practices and dehumanize immigrants. It’s clear that this program expands the reach of ICE: training handpicked journalists, elected officials, and so-called ‘community stakeholders’ in the use of firearms and surveillance of immigrants. It’s an attempt to garner positive media coverage about their harmful work and create a culture of anti-immigrant racism and vigilantism,” said Genia Blaser, Director of Hotline, Immigrant Defense Project.

ICE launched the first Citizens Academy in Puerto Rico in 2014 and implemented the program nationwide in 2019, following widespread public criticism of the agency. ICE’s goal, according to an internal memo, was to counter “negative opinion…fueled by harmful headlines or political views.” While ICE appears not to have held any Citizens Academies since the FOIA litigation began, it is still an active initiative promoted on its website. 

“What we, OCAD, have been able to confirm based on the documents the government has provided is that the ‘Citizens Academy’ program is nothing but a mere propaganda stunt that promotes skill learning such as gun training for extensive hours and whose approved applicants come from government agencies, corporate agencies, and who demonstrate xenophobic tendencies, making the continuation of the program a danger for immigrant communities,”  said Antonio Gutierrez, Cofounder and Strategic Coordinator of OCAD. 

Summarized here in a briefing guide, the documents show that Citizens Academy attendees spend many hours in firing ranges, receive training in shooting techniques, and have access to not only handguns but also military grade rifles. Further, they are trained in the use of deadly force with materials that instructs them how to inflict harm. One Power Point advises them to try to evade liability by yelling “Drop the gun, while drawing and firing on the target,” regardless of whether they actually see a gun.

“We filed this lawsuit because we have a right to know more about the purpose and operation of these vigilante ‘Citizens Academy’ training programs. The answers brought to light through this litigation confirm that violence and propaganda are at the heart of the Citizens Academy program. ICE uses the Citizens Academy program to garner positive media coverage, and FOIA records show ICE specifically recruits journalists and other key stakeholders to participate. The FOIA records further reveal a disturbing focus on violence, including hands-on firearms training for the civilian participants. The information exposed through this litigation confirms that these dangerous vigilante programs have no place in our communities,” said Sarah Cockrum, Supervising Attorney at Beyond Legal Aid.

Although ICE depicts the Citizens Academy program as community outreach, it does not make them available to the public or extend invitations broadly. One internal email advises organizers not to “cast a wide net for recruitment. Have managers and agents target industries and NGO’s we work with (media, clergy, NGO’s, victim witness, etc).” Legislative staff at both the federal and state level have attended, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott was invited to give the keynote at a 2019 training in Austin. 

 “These documents show the extent that ICE will go to try and put a happy face on their violent and racist enforcement efforts,” said Ian Head, Open Records Project Manager at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “And the fact that ICE continues to hide certain information behind numerous redactions, including many of the names and organizations who were recruited and who attended these programs, reveals the program’s true and shameful nature.” 

 “ICE spends billions of dollars in resources to target human beings for family separation, detention, and deportation,” said Ghita Schwarz, Director of Litigation at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. “What's less understood are their efforts to train the public in their warped value system. The so-called Citizens Academy program is a dressed-up public relations campaign that encourages seeing neighbors as enemies. It should have been shut down long ago.”

For more information, see the full briefing guide here and the FOIA litigation case page here. 

For further information about the organizations involved, visit their websites:

Immigrant Defense Project
OCAD
Latino Justice
Beyond Legal Aid
Center for Constitutional Rights