The Department of Homeland Security wants a custom-made apparatus for ICE trainees to rehearse the smash-and-grab tactics that have repeatedly led to lawsuits. The agency is planning to spend around $80,000 on a 20-foot “breach box” for its Homeland Security Investigations Academy, according to a report by the Daily Beast’s sister Substack, PunchUp. Thetraining unit resembles a retrofitted steel shipping container that allows rookie federal agents to practice break-ins. It comes with windows reinforced with steel rods, walls that can be kitted out with sheetrock, and reinforced sections designed to practice cutting through barriers. ICE intends to award the deal to Virginia-based Rapid Assault Tools (RAT), which markets its model specifically for “realistic residential and commercial breaching scenarios.” The planned purchase comes amid mounting legal challenges over the department’s use of force to enter private residences under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. In some cases, those raids have targeted the homes of U.S. citizens, prompting a flurry of lawsuits. PunchUp contacted DHS and RAT for comment. Neither responded.
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Tom Latchem exposes the secrets, scandals, and stories that powerful people and institutions want to keep under wraps. Follow all of his reporting at PunchUp on Substack.
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