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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
ICE is a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security
ICE is a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security
AbbreviationICE
Motto"Protecting National Security and Upholding Public Safety"
Agency overview
FormedMarch 1, 2003
Preceding agencies
Annual budget$5 billion (2008)[1]
Jurisdictional structure
Federal agencyUnited States
Operations jurisdictionUnited States
Constituting instrument
  • Homeland Security Act of 2002
General nature
Operational structure
Agency executive
Parent agencyU.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest and primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation's border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., ICE is charged with the investigation and enforcement of over 400 federal statutes within the United States, and maintains attaches at major U.S. embassies overseas. Consequently, ICE Special Agents/Federal Inspectors possess the broadest investigative authority within the United States government.[2][3][4]

ICE is led by an Assistant Secretary, who is appointed at the sub-Cabinet level by the President of the United States, confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and reports directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security.[5] The mission of ICE is to protect the United States and uphold public safety by targeting the people, money and materials that support terrorist and criminal activities.

History

ICE officers seizing narcotics during an arrest

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was formed pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002 following the events of September 11, 2001. With the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security the functions and jurisdictions of several border and revenue enforcement agencies were combined and consolidated into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Consequently, ICE is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, and the second largest contributor to the nation's Joint Terrorism Task Force (after the Federal Bureau of Investigation).[6]

The agencies that were either moved entirely or merged in part into ICE included the investigative and intelligence resources of the United States Customs Service, the criminal investigation resources of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the United States Federal Protective Service. Consequently, ICE is also charged with the protection of federal buildings within the United States. At one point, the Federal Air Marshals Service was moved from the Transportation Security Administration to ICE, but they were eventually moved back to the TSA.[citation needed]

Organization

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is responsible for identifying and eliminating border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security vulnerabilities. The ICE organization is composed of four law enforcement divisions and several support divisions each headed by a director who reports to a Deputy Assistant Secretary.[7] The divisions of ICE combine to form a new investigative approach with new resources to provide unparalleled investigation, interdiction and security services to the public and other law enforcement partners in the federal and local sectors

Office of Investigations

OI uses its broad legal authority to investigate and combat a range of issues that threaten the national security of the United States such as strategic crimes, human rights violations, human smuggling, human trafficking, narcotics, weapons and other types of smuggling (including weapons of mass destruction), immigration crimes, gang investigations, financial crimes, terrorism, cybercrimes, and import/export enforcement issues. ICE special agents also conduct investigations aimed at protecting critical infrastructure industries that are vulnerable to sabotage, attack or exploitation.[8] Primarily, these duties are charged by the Secretary of Homeland Security Federal Protective Service. Furthermore, select ICE special agents are cross-trained and certified to perform Secret Service protective details assisting with guarding the President, Vice-President, or major candidates and their families[9] as well as fly Federal Air Marshal missions when the need arises.

Office of the Federal Protective Service

The ICE Federal Protective Service (FPS) is responsible for policing, securing, and ensuring a safe environment in which federal agencies can conduct their business by reducing threats posed against the more than 8,800 federal government facilities nationwide. FPS is divided into 11 regions and has some of the broadest jurisdiction and responsibility in the federal law enforcement sector.[citation needed] FPS inspectors perform all duties attendant to the normal interpretation of a federal police officer function, including maintaining law and order, preventing or deterring disturbances, and investigating felonies and misdemeanors. FPS employs over 2,000 federal law enforcement officers/inspectors and over 15,000 contract security guards to perform its mission.[10]

Office of Intelligence

The Office of Intelligence uses its Intelligence Research Specialists for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of strategic and tactical intelligence data for use by the operational elements of ICE and DHS. Consequently, the Office of Intelligence works closely with the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Office of Detention and Removal

DRO is responsible for enforcing the nation's immigration laws and ensuring the departure of all removable aliens from the United States. DRO uses its Immigration Enforcement Agents (IEA) to interdict, apprehend, and remove criminal aliens found in the nation's jails and prisons. As such, IEAs are the uniformed presence of immigration enforcement within the interior of the United States. IEAs also are responsible for the transportation and detention of aliens in ICE custody. DRO uses its Deportation Officers to prosecute aliens for illegal re-entry after deportation, monitor cases during deportation proceedings, supervise released aliens who are subject to deportation, and to remove aliens from the United States.[11] Deportation Officers and IEAs also operate strategically placed Fugitive Operations Teams whose function is to locate, apprehend, and remove aliens who absconded from immigration proceedings and remain in the United States with an outstanding Warrant of Deportation. DRO custody management consists of a partnership with the U.S. Marshals Service in operating JPATS, the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System, otherwise known as Con-Air to remove criminal aliens from the United States.[12]

OPLA provides legal advice, training and services to support the ICE mission and defends the interests of the United States in the administrative and federal courts.

Office of Professional Responsibility

OPR is responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct involving employees of ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). OPR preserves the organizational integrity of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by impartially, independently and thoroughly investigating allegations of criminal or serious administrative misconduct by ICE and CBP employees worldwide. Additionally, OPR inspects and reviews ICE offices, operations and processes so as to provide executive management with independent reviews of the agency's organizational health. In this role, OPR assesses the effectiveness and efficiency of ICE in carrying out its mission.

Hiring process

The broad law enforcement mission and authorities of ICE carries unusual trust and responsibility. Therefore, the process of becoming an ICE employee is arduous and competitive.[citation needed] Applicants may expect to undergo a battery of mental, intellectual, and physical tests, as well as interviews, medical screenings, and an extensive background investigation. Information about joining ICE is available through local ICE offices or on the ICE website.[13]

Training

Newly hired ICE special agents, deportation officers, immigration enforcement agents, and Federal Protective Service officers undergo initial entry training at the ICE Academy on the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. To meet division specific academic and practical instruction, the ICE Academy varies in length from 12 to 24 weeks depending on the position. Furthermore, following graduation, new ICE special agents and officers undergo additional post academy training, as well as career-continuous training, and are assigned to an ICE office anywhere in the nation as well as around the world. Professional support staff are also assigned to of one of the many ICE offices.

ICE and immigration law

Immigration and Nationality Act Section 287(g) is designed to effectively multiply ICEs forces through enhanced cooperation and communication with state, and local law enforcement agencies. Section 287(g) authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, permitting designated officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions, pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), provided that the local law enforcement officers receive appropriate training and function under the supervision of sworn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Under 287(g), ICE provides state and local law enforcement with the training and subsequent authorization to identify, process, and when appropriate, detain immigration offenders they encounter during their regular, daily law-enforcement activity.[14]

"The days of ignoring immigration law are over," Marc Raimondi, A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman, said. "A failure to comply is not an option. The person ordered to be removed needs to comply with that order or we'll assist them with compliance. To think of people illegally in the country who have been convicted of crimes are walking around is outrageous."[15]

Julie Myers, the assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security told a press conference. "America's welcome does not extend to immigrants who come here to commit crimes."[16]

ICE has played a key role in investigating and arresting citizens suspected of possessing and distributing child pornography.[17] Because a vast majority of child pornography is produced in foreign countries, ICE special agents utilize their authority to investigate persons and groups that traffic in this type of contraband, the importation of which via traditional mail or internet channels constitute violations of customs laws.

According to some reports, ICE has a history of deporting naturalized and natural born citizens.[18]

Detention centers

See also: Immigration_detention § United_States

ICE operates detention centers throughout the United States that imprison illegal immigrants who are apprehended and placed into removal proceedings. About 31,000 non-citizens (including children) are held in immigration detention on any given day,[19] in over 200 detention centres, jails, and prisons nationwide.

In 2006, the T. Don Hutto Residential Center opened specifically to house non-criminal families. Other significant facilities are located in Austin, Texas (at the Travis County Courthouse); Elizabeth, New Jersey; Oakdale, Louisiana; Florence, Arizona; Miami, Florida; Seattle; York, Pennsylvania; Batavia, New York; Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and all along the Texas–Mexico border.

Corporate contracts

Engineering and construction firm Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) released a press statement on January 24 2006 that the company had been awarded a no-bid contingency contract from the Department of Homeland Security to support its ICE facilities in the event of an emergency. The maximum total value of the contract is $385 million and consists of a 1-year base period with four 1-year options. KBR held the previous ICE contract from 2000 through 2005. The contract provides for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to expand existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs. The contract may also provide migrant detention support to other government organizations in the event of an immigration emergency, the company said.

Medical neglect and deaths

In March 2008, a Los Angeles federal judge said that immigration officials’ alleged decision to withhold a critical medical test and other treatment from a detainee who later died of cancer was "beyond cruel and unusual" punishment.[20] Chairman Zoe Lofgren of the United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law said one of the things she found most troubling was that "bureaucrats" at ICE in Washington have the power to overrule recommendations of doctors who have actually seen the medical problems of detainees.[20]

83 prisoners have died in detention or soon after in the five years since ICE was created in March of 2003 until early 2008, and medical neglect may have contributed to 30 of those deaths.[21] On August 6, 2008, 34-year-old New Yorker Hiu Lui Ng died in the detention of ICE.[22] The editors of The New York Times condemned the death and urged that the system must be fixed.[23] Chairman Zoe Lofgren of the United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law introduced legislation requiring ICE to provide basic medical care to those in their detention and prohibit ICE from removing the lifesaving medication of people who they arrest.[24] ICE has stated that the number of deaths per capita in detention is dramatically lower for ICE detainees than for U.S. prison and jail populations, that they provide "the best possible healthcare", and that the nation as a whole is "experiencing severe shortages of qualified health professionals".[25]

Criticism

ICE works closely with its sister agency U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which employs the uniformed presence at the ports and borders (Border Patrol agents and border inspectors) meant to interdict people or material crossing the border illegally. ICE is the criminal investigative resource responsible for long-term investigations of criminal and terrorist organizations seeking to penetrate American border security. These cases include the smuggling of narcotics, goods, weapons, and humans into the United States. Some in Congress, including Senator Susan Collins (R-ME),[26] have argued that the combined infrastructures of ICE and CBP should be merged into one agency, with the border inspectors, deportation officers, and special agents working hand in hand to combat crime.

Equipment

File:CBP Air.jpg
An Air and Marine Operations (AMO) Black Hawk supporting an ICE operation

ICE agents and officers carry the Sig Sauer P229R pistol with the DAK trigger chambered in .40 S&W, the Heckler & Koch USP Compact with LEM trigger in .40 S&W, or the Glock 19 pistol chambered in 9mm. Eventually, all ICE officers will transition to the Sig Sauer P229R-DAK as their primary sidearm. They also may be assigned the Remington Model 870 shotgun, the Steyr AUG rifle, the Colt M16 rifle, or the Colt M4 carbine. Agents and officers assigned to a Special Response Team (SRT) are specifically assigned the Colt M4 carbine while some operators may also carry the Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun, although these are being phased out.

ICE operates the only nation-wide radio communication system in the federal law enforcement community. The system, known as the National Law Enforcement Communications Center (NLECC) is Motorola-based and employs a technology specifically designed for ICE known as COTHEN (Customs Over The Horizon Network). Consequently, ICE agents, officers, and authorized subcribers are able to communicate with one another across the nation using NLECC's strategically placed repeaters and high-speed data lines. Additionally, the NLECC, commonly referred to as SECTOR, is based in Orlando, Florida.

See also

References

  1. ^ FY2008 Budget
  2. ^ US CODE: Title 19,1589a. Enforcement authority of customs officers
  3. ^ US CODE: Title 8,1357. Powers of immigration officers and employees
  4. ^ US CODE: Title 19,482. Search of vehicles and persons
  5. ^ DHS | Assistant Secretary for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): Julie L. Myers
  6. ^ Federal Bureau of Investigation - Press Room - Headline Archives
  7. ^ ICE Leadership
  8. ^ ICE Operations
  9. ^ United States Secret Service: How Protection Works
  10. ^ GSA - Security
  11. ^ ICE Office of Detention and Removal (DRO) ICE Detention and Deportation Officer Conrad Agagan
  12. ^ http://www.usmarshals.gov/jpats/index.html
  13. ^ Working for ICE
  14. ^ 287g training from ICE sought by many U.S. jurisdictions - novatownhall blog
  15. ^ Charlotte News - Local News Charlotte | Charlotte Observer
  16. ^ http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=878522006
  17. ^ Teacher faces charges of pornography- MassLive.com
  18. ^ Thin ICE
  19. ^ "In-Custody Deaths". New York Times.
  20. ^ a b Henry Weinstein (2008-03-13). "Feds' actions 'beyond cruel,' judge says". Los Angeles Times.
  21. ^ "Careless Detention: System of Neglect". Washington Post.
  22. ^ Nina Bernstein. "Ill and in Pain, Detainee Dies in U.S. Hands". New York Times.
  23. ^ Editorial (2008-08-16). "Mr. Ng's Death". New York Times.
  24. ^ "Cancer-Stricken 34-Year-Old Chinese Computer Engineer Dies After Being Denied Care in Private US Immigration Prison". Democracy Now.
  25. ^ "Detention In America". CBS News. May 11, 2008.
  26. ^ "Merger of ICE, CBP considered". The Washington Times. February 16, 2005. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
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International agencies comparable to ICE

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