ICE executes its mission through the enforcement of more than 400 federal statutes, focusing on preventing terrorism, immigration enforcement and combating transnational crime.
Fact Sheets
Enforcement and Removal
The 287(g) program, one of ICE's top partnership initiatives, allows a state and local law enforcement entity to enter into a partnership with ICE, under a joint Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), in order to receive delegated authority for immigration enforcement within their jurisdictions.
In 2009, ICE revised the 287(g) delegated authority program, strengthening public safety and ensuring consistency in immigration enforcement across the country by prioritizing the arrest and detention of criminal noncitizens.
Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) opened the Berks Family Residential Center in Leesport, Pennsylvania in 2001 to accommodate noncitizen families in ICE custody.
The South Texas Family Residential Center (STFRC) is located in Dilley, TX.
In FY 2019, ICE ERO arrested individuals with more than 1,900 convictions and charges for homicide, 1,800 for kidnapping, 12,000 sex offenses, 5,000 sexual assaults, 45,000 assaults, 67,000 crimes involving drugs, 10,000 weapons offenses, and 74,000 DUIs.
ICE Air Operations (IAO) is the air transportation arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
In keeping with its commitment to reform the immigration detention system, ICE further revised its detention standards in 2011. The Performance-Based National Detention Standards 2011 (PBNDS 2011) reflect ICE's ongoing effort to tailor the conditions of immigration detention to its unique purpose while maintaining a safe and secure detention environment for staff and detainees, and represent an important step in detention reform.
On April 27, 2021, Acting Director of ICE Tae Johnson and Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller issued an interim memorandum to ICE and CBP personnel pertaining to the limited circumstances in which civil immigration enforcement actions may be carried out in or near a courthouse.
These memorandums provide guidance to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about its role in the implementation of the MPP.
Under the new policy, noncitizens who arrive in the United States at a port of entry and are found to have a credible fear of persecution or torture will automatically be considered by DRO for parole. This is a change from the prior policy, which required noncitizens to affirmatively request parole in writing.
Questions and Answers related to Revision of Stay of Removal Request Reviews for U Visa Petitioners
Homeland Security Investigations
Targets the full array of methods used to smuggle bulk cash, including commercial and private passenger vehicles, commercial airline shipments and passengers, and pedestrians crossing U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada.
In 2009, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated an investigation targeting transportation companies involved in the illicit movement of recently smuggled noncitizens in the Phoenix and Tucson Arizona area. Dubbed 'Operation In Plain Sight' because of the brazen nature of the transportation companies' activities, this investigation marks the most comprehensive human smuggling investigation in ICE history.
ICE continues to enhance its Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Strategy and plays a key role in DHS's anti-human trafficking initiative, the Blue Campaign. The Blue Campaign is organized around the three "Ps" of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA): Protection (victim assistance), Prevention (public awareness) and Prosecution (law enforcement efforts). The Blue Campaign also emphasizes a fourth "P": Partnerships.
According to the U.S. Department of State, the United States is a destination country for thousands of men, women, and children trafficked from all areas of the world. These victims are trafficked for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. Many of these victims are lured from their homes with false promises of well-paying jobs; instead, they are forced or coerced into prostitution, domestic servitude, farm or factory labor or other types of forced labor.
On November 6, 1986, the enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control Act required employers to verify the identity and employment eligibility of their employees and created criminal and civil sanctions for employment related violations.
ICEPIC helps to identify suspicious identities and discovers possible non-obvious relationships among individuals and organizations. All ICEPIC activity is predicated on valid and ongoing law enforcement investigations.
HSI personnel will be on the front lines of the interagency effort to mitigate the threat posed by criminal organizations seeking to exploit and profit from criminal activity conducted in and around the Super Bowl - from the identification and seizure of counterfeit goods to enhanced efforts to counter human trafficking.
Established in each of the 26 HSI Special Agent in Charge (SAC) offices across the country the IPTETs build on the investigative best practices identified by the IPR Center, its partner agencies and private industry. The IPTETs use an informal task force approach to enhance coordination of IP theft investigations between federal, state and local law enforcement partners in their local area.
The mission of the IPR Center is to insure national security by protecting the public’s health and safety, the U.S. economy, and the war fighters, and to stop predatory and unfair trade practices that threaten the global economy.
Combats the importation of substandard tainted, and counterfeit products that pose health and safety risks to consumers
The IPR Center and its partner agencies aggressively pursue those who steal from American businesses and ultimately the American workers who work to produce the real goods and products.
Uses enforcement actions to raise awareness of the dangers posed by counterfeit medicines and medical devices being sold on the Internet
The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center's (IPR Center) Outreach & Training Unit engages in partnerships with public and private sectors to combat Intellectual Property (IP) theft through its Operation Joint Venture (Joint Venture) initiative.
One of ICE's highest priorities is to prevent illicit procurement networks, terrorist groups and hostile nations from illegally obtaining U.S. military products, sensitive dual-use technology, weapons of mass destruction, or chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials.
Human rights violators, including those who have participated in war crimes and acts of genocide, torture, extrajudicial killing, violations of religious freedom, and other acts of persecution, frequently seek to evade justice by seeking shelter in the United States.
Success Stories – ICE Uses Immigration and Customs Authorities to Address National Security Threats
Each year, millions of children fall prey to sexual predators.
Customs laws allow ICE to seize national treasures, especially if they have been reported lost or stolen. ICE works with experts to authenticate the items, determine their true ownership and return them to their countries of origin.
The Shadow Wolves comprise an ICE tactical patrol unit based on the Native American Tohono O’odham Nation in southern Arizona. Shadow Wolf officers are known for their ability to track noncitizen and drug smugglers as they attempt to smuggle their illegal commodities across the border.
The in-bond system allows merchandise not intended for entry into U.S. commerce to travel through the United States without being subject to duties and taxes. The in-bond system makes this feasible to facilitate trade to foreign markets.
Investigating the loss or looting of cultural heritage properties and returning them to their countries of origin are an important part of ICE’s diverse mission. ICE has authorities that target a wide range of criminal activities, many of them involving smuggling and trafficking, both of goods and people. The agency often investigates leads to art and artifacts that are important evidence of the history and cultural heritage another nation. ICE takes pride in bringing to justice those who would trade in such items for personal profit and in returning to other nations these priceless items.
This job aid is a quick-reference for termination reasons noted in Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).
Management and Administration
ICE has an annual budget of more than $5.7 billion, with Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) budget figures in key categories.
The Student Volunteer Program offers unpaid, professional training opportunities to undergraduate and graduate college students. These opportunities provide work experience related to the students’ academic programs and provide them an opportunity to explore career options, as well as develop their personal and professional skills. These are uncompensated positions and do not have to be announced nor do they count towards existing vacancies.
Updated: 02/01/2021