U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a governmental law enforcement agency that enforces federal laws governing border control, customs, trade, and immigration. The agency falls under the control of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). ICE was formed in 2003 after the merger of the investigative and interior enforcement sectors of the former US Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The agency has an annual budget of approximately $8 billion and employs more than twenty thousand people in more than four hundred offices in the United States and forty-six other countries. The mission of ICE is to protect the country from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that the agency considers a threat to national security and public safety. The agency is not without controversy, however, with movements gaining steam nationwide in 2018 that called for the agency to be abolished. Critics claim that ICE is too aggressive and forces otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants out of the country.

Brief History

Border security and the way the country handles immigration—illegal immigration specifically—has long been a part of government operations in the United States. Those initiatives became increasingly more important—and scrutinized—following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, commonly known as 9/11. On that day, a series of four coordinated attacks were carried out by the Islamic extremist terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States. The group hijacked four airplanes, crashing them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York; the Pentagon in Washington, DC; and another that was brought down in a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers intervened. Nearly three thousand people died in the attacks, which were seen as an intelligence failure in the US government, with warning signs being missed prior to the attack.

Following the 9/11 attacks, the nation’s government reorganized and consolidated agencies as it studied and changed how it dealt with a number of issues. In 2002, a new cabinet-level department was created for the first time in more than a decade. This new department was named the Department of Homeland Security and its main goal is to ensure the nation’s safety and security. One of the agencies that falls within the Department of Homeland Security’s control is Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE was created in 2003 with the consolidation of two other government agencies. ICE absorbed and assumed the functions and duties of the US Customs Service, which had been overseen by the US Department of the Treasury, and the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, which was previously part of the Department of Justice.

Overview

According to the DHS website, the mission of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is to protect the country from cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten the nation’s security and public safety. That mission is carried out through the enforcement of federal laws and focuses on smart immigration enforcement that seeks to prevent terrorism and combat the illegal movement of people and goods. The largest area of responsibility for ICE is immigration enforcement, and the agency often works closely with US Customs and Border Protection and US Citizenship and Immigration Services, among others. ICE offices are located around the country and also in forty-six other foreign nations throughout the world. Within the United States, although there are a large number of ICE assets near the border, according to the Department of Homeland Security, the majority of ICE’s immigration enforcement work takes place in the nation’s interior, away from the borders.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has three main operational directorates—which is a section of a government department charged with a specific set of responsibilities. The first directorate under ICE is Enforcement and Removal Operations, which identifies, apprehends, and detains immigrants in the country illegally and removes them from the country when necessary. The second directorate is Homeland Security Investigations, which investigates both domestic and international activities that arise from the illegal movement of people and goods in and out of the country as well as within its borders. The Office of the Principal Legal Advisor is the third directorate, and it is the exclusive legal representative for ICE in deportation proceedings against people in the country illegally in immigration courts. A fourth directorate also exists called Management and Administration, which acts as an overall support system for the three main directorates.

Although Immigration and Customs Enforcement deals with the nation’s security, its work is not without controversy, particularly where deportations are involved. In 2018, a growing number of activists and politicians called for the abolishment of ICE. The number of individuals detained by ICE reached an all-time high in 2018, and critics point to mandates by the administration of President Donald Trump as the reason. Under the previous administration of President Barack Obama, ICE prioritized removing undocumented immigrants who had committed serious crimes within the country. Under President Trump, however, the United States took a tougher approach as the president directed ICE to target anyone in the country illegally, whether or not they had committed any crimes. The number of people detained in 2019 surpassed the previous high of 2018.

For many critics who want it abolished, ICE has become a symbol of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies. The group has been characterized as a “deportation force,” with critics arguing that immigration issues should be separate from criminal enforcement. It is not just politicians and activists who feel ICE should be abolished—some agents within the department have also said the organization should be disbanded, with its current functions being reorganized into separate offices. In a 2018 letter sent to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, special agents within ICE said the perception of the agency’s focus on deportations has hurt the agents’ ability to conduct investigations and that the politics of immigration has resulted in some local law enforcement officials refusing to cooperate with ICE investigations.

Despite the tension in 2018, ICE was not abolished and the department's growing media presence created a political divide within the country. The Trump administration's family separation policy of 2017 and 2018 separated children from their parents. The system lacked the necessary infrastructure and organization to track the different parties, and as a result, many parents were deported without their children. In 2024, over 1,000 children remained separated from their families. ICE's role in carrying out the separation policy created a lot of negative feelings towards the institution. The organization has also faced reports of racial profiling and civil rights abuse. As Trump took office again in 2025, he promised mass deportations and asked Congress for an increase to ICE's budget to help carry out his plans for undocumented immigrants. Immediately, ICE faced scrutiny as reports came out of American citizens caught up in ICE raids, with some accusing the organization of violating their rights. Navajo Nation citizens living off the reservation gave reports of being questioned and detained by ICE officials not because of a crime they had committed, but simply because of their looks. This racial profiling has raised serious alarms and a ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee has sent a letter asking for an accounting of immigration enforcement actions. It remains unclear what will happen as ICE increases its presence across the country.

Bibliography

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