What is ICE?
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal agency under the Department of Homeland Security responsible for immigration enforcement, detention, and deportation operations.
Was established in 2002, ICE has been used to enforce federal immigration, trade and border laws operating as a police force, but as an extension of the federal government.
What Does ICE Do?
ICE has a dual mandate: to enforce civil immigration and customs laws and to investigate transnational crime. (GovFacts)
- Immigration and Nationality Act 1952 this gives ICE agents the authority to question anyone they believe to be a non-citizen.
- Supreme Court in Terry v. Ohio allows officers to briefly stop and detain anyone based on if they feel there is reasonable suspicion. This also gives them the right to stop vehicles.
- Ability to arrest with a warrant.
- INA also provides officers with the ability to arrest without a warrant, if they believe individual could escape prior to warrant attainment. (Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo)
- Also involved with handling trafficking, smuggling, and customs violations.
On a whole ICE is involved with many different things, but their states mission is to, "Protect America through criminal investigations and enforcing immigration laws to preserve national security and public safety" (ice.gov).
Why It Matters?
ICE policies and actions influence public perception, community safety, and family stability in immigrant communities. These are communities that many of us are a part of even if we do not know it. Some families are at a point in which they are scared to leave their home, this impacts student's' ability to go to school and parent's ability to work.
As of October 2025, there are at least 60,000 people being detained with 20 having died in containment. The most deaths since 2005. (2025 is the deadliest year to be in ICE custody in decades : NPR)
Also as of October 25, 457,000 immigrants have been arrested which is on track for the Trump Administrations goal of 600,000 deportations this year.