ICE launches redesigned website

WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched its redesigned official website Thursday. The site – ICE.gov – is optimized for desktop computers, as well as mobile and tablet devices. It features a fresh look and feel and reorganized content.

“When redesigning the site, we focused on our users – how they navigate through content and what information they look for,” said Pedro Ribeiro, assistant director of ICE’s Office of Public Affairs. “We then took that information and applied it to the site organization.”

Based on feedback from the public, site analytics and recommendations from export Web design and architecture consultants, the redesigned site features a “What We Do” section, separated into three categories: Preventing Terrorism, Investigating Illegal Movement of People and Goods, and Immigration Enforcement. This puts information about the agency’s operations into greater context, not only providing details about the mission, but the reason for it as well.

“Our goal for this redesign is to clearly define who we are, what we do, and most importantly, why we do it,” said Ribeiro. “This new website meets that goal - to better inform the American people of how we promote homeland security and public safety.”

In addition to re-organized content, the new site is fully optimized for mobile and tablet devices, making it easier to access ICE.gov on the go. It is also tightly integrated with a host of social media platforms so users can easily share content.

ICE.gov serves as a primary means to educate the public about the agency’s mission, accomplishments and daily operations. The site attracts roughly eight million visits a year from around the world. In the past calendar year, visitors spent an average of three minutes or more per page and read more than 1,400 original news articles about the agency.

Visitors rely on the website for a variety of wide-ranging and vital services, including law enforcement-sharing capabilities, detainee locations, Freedom of Information Act documents and the international student process, among other topics.

For more information about traffic to ICE.gov, visit the metrics page.

ICE is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the second largest investigative agency in the federal government.

ICE was created in 2003 through a merger of the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the former U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.