Fit Happens

“Some of the fresh hires have dropped out of the academy after flunking exams on immigration law and Fourth Amendment limits on officers’ search authority.” But the academics aren’t the main thing keeping applicants from being accepted into ICE (even with its newly reduced standards and shortened training times). It’s the 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.” (In fairness, it’s hard to breath with a mask on.) The Atlantic (Gift Article): ICE’s ‘Athletically Allergic’ Recruits. “The new recruits are the only ones who have to complete the fitness test. Retirees and currently employed law-enforcement officers can ‘self-certify’ without being tested.” (Most of my fitness achievements were self-certified.)