Fact Sheets

Enforcement and Removal

287(g)

Delegation of Immigration Authority Section 287(g) Immigration and Nationality Act

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.

Updated Facts on ICE's 287(g) Program

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 aliens.

Detention Reform

2009 Immigration Detention Reforms

These reforms will address the vast majority of complaints about our immigration detention, while allowing ICE to maintain a significant, robust detention capacity to carry out serious immigration enforcement.

Enforcement and Removal Operations

Civil Immigration Enforcement Actions at Courthouses Directive

This Directive sets forth U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy regarding civil immigration enforcement actions inside federal, state, and local courthouses.

Family Residential Standards

Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) opened the Berks Family Residential Center in Leesport, Pennsylvania in 2001 to accommodate alien families in ICE custody.

ICE Air Operations

ICE Air Operations (IAO) is the air transportation arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

ICE Detention Standards

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.

ODLS Brochures

ODLS Brochures

Revised Parole Policy for Arriving Aliens with Credible Fear Claims

Under the new policy, aliens 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 aliens to affirmatively request parole in writing.

Homeland Security Investigations

Customs Cross Designation

Customs Cross Designation

ICE is authorized under Title 19 of U.S. Code 1401 to cross-designate other federal, state and local law enforcement officers to investigate and enforce customs laws.

Financial Crimes/Cornerstone

Illegal Pay Schemes - Operation Paycheck

An enforcement initiative that leverages HSI’s combined investigative expertise in financial crimes and worksite enforcement to identify, disrupt and eliminate organizations seeking to exploit our financial industry to facilitate the employment of illegal aliens.

Operation Firewall

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.

Organized Retail Crime (The SEARCH Initiative)

Through the SEARCH Initiative, HSI is actively seeking and pursuing investigative leads related to organized retail crime that have a nexus to transnational criminal organizations.

Human Smuggling & Trafficking Unit

"Operation In Plain Sight" - Targeting Arizona Smuggling Organizations

In 2009, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated an investigation targeting transportation companies involved in the illicit movement of recently smuggled aliens 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.

DHS Blue Campaign

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.

Human Trafficking and Smuggling

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.

Law Enforcement Officer Mission Support

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Pattern Analysis and Information Collection System (ICEPIC)

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.

National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Coordination Center

Intellectual Property Right Theft Enforcement Teams

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.

National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center

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.

Operation Apothecary

Combats pharmaceutical smuggling

Operation Guardian

Combats the importation of substandard tainted, and counterfeit products that pose health and safety risks to consumers

Operation In Our Sites

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.

Operation Pangea

Uses enforcement actions to raise awareness of the dangers posed by counterfeit medicines and medical devices being sold on the Internet

Outreach & Training

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.

National Security

Counter-Proliferation Investigations

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 Investigations

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.

Terrorism-Related Threats and ICE's Authority

Success Stories – ICE Uses Immigration and Customs Authorities to Address National Security Threats

Operation Predator

Operation Predator - Targeting child exploitation and sexual crimes

Each year, millions of children fall prey to sexual predators.

Smuggling - Arms, Contraband, Cultural Artifacts

Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Investigations

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.

ICE Shadow Wolves

The Shadow Wolves comprise a U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (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 alien and drug smugglers as they attempt to smuggle their illegal commodities across the border.

In-Bond Merchandise Diversion Smuggling

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.

World War II Cultural Artifact Cases

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.

Student Exchange and Visitor Program

Continuity of Operations Planning for SEVP-Approved Schools

The effects of a crisis can be lessened by planning; a COOP plan will allow your school to continue critical operations until the crisis situation normalizes. SEVP and DHS strongly encourage you to review the basic tenets of COOP planning and utilize the available COOP planning resources, such as those included with this Fact Sheet.

F and M Student Record Termination Reasons in SEVIS

This job aid is a quick-reference for termination reasons noted in Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).

ICE announces the extension of employment authorization eligibility for certain Syrian students

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced special relief for certain F-1 Syrian students who have suffered severe economic hardship as a direct result of the civil unrest in Syria since March 2011. This relief applies only to students who were lawfully present in the United States in F-1 status as of April 3, 2012, and enrolled in an institution that is certified by ICE's Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP).

Worksite Enforcement

Form I-9 Inspection Overview

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.

Management and Administration

Chief Financial Officer - Management and Budget

Budget - Fiscal Year 2005

Budget - Fiscal Year 2006

Budget - Fiscal Year 2006

Budget - Fiscal Year 2007

Budget - Fiscal Year 2007

Budget - Fiscal Year 2008

Budget - Fiscal Year 2008

Budget - Fiscal Year 2009

Budget - Fiscal Year 2009

Budget - Fiscal Year 2010

ICE has an annual budget of more than $5.7 billion, with Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) budget figures in key categories.

ICE Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 Enacted Budget

ICE Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Enacted Budget

Office of Human Capital - Careers

Student Volunteer Program

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.

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Fact Sheets

Enforcement and Removal

287(g)

Detention Reform

Enforcement and Removal Operations

Homeland Security Investigations

Customs Cross Designation

Financial Crimes/Cornerstone

Human Smuggling & Trafficking Unit

Law Enforcement Officer Mission Support

National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Coordination Center

National Security

Operation Predator

Smuggling - Arms, Contraband, Cultural Artifacts

Student Exchange and Visitor Program

Worksite Enforcement

Management and Administration

Chief Financial Officer - Management and Budget

Office of Human Capital - Careers