There are multiple in-depth articles about ICE on this website but they’re written with an audience of activists and those who are obsessed with politics in mind.
This article serves as an easy-to-understand overview of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as an agency, and summary of the major changes occurring under the Trump administration. It’s geared towards people who aren’t deep into politics and who may not be aware of every little thing that happens in Washington, D.C.
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The Immigration system and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) are controversial subjects. This was evident a few years ago with the proliferation of protest signs with ‘ABOLISH ICE’ on them.
People tend to have strong feelings about the federal officers, their role, and the ways in which they carry out their duties.
The immigration system as a whole is broken and has been for a very long time. The first real opportunity Congress had to fix it was in President Joe Biden’s term when Republican Senator James Lankford worked with a Democrat and an Independent to draft a comprehensive reform bill.
The final draft of the bill championed more policies Republicans pushed for after Democrats chose to compromise on more than they typically would because the American people wanted Congress to do something about the border quickly.
Bipartisan Border Bill
The final “border bill” included changes and funding that would finally address our broken system. The bill would:
- Hire more immigration judges so the court can hear asylum cases immediately vs. releasing migrants into the country while they await their asylum hearing.
- Provide funding for the installation of expensive electronic equipment that detects fentanyl coming across the border by car (how most of it comes in). The equipment has been sitting in a warehouse for years because the federal government gave it to the border, but never provided the funding necessary to install and set it up.
- Pay increase for Border Patrol Agents, currently overworked and overwhelmed by the number of border crossings. Hire more CBP officers as needed.
- +More
Why didn’t the bill pass? Candidate Donald Trump didn’t want the issues at the Southern border to be solved because he wanted to run for President on fixing the broken border.
As Republicans in Congress were poised to vote for the bill (from a Republican colleague), Trump called Speaker Mike Johnson and ordered him to make sure they do not pass a bill that would both“give Biden a win,” and solve the crisis he needed for the 2024 presidential campaign.
Democrats could have used this stunt in their own campaign, but the party has never been great at messaging, especially if the message isn’t “civil.”
Donald Trump and Republicans were constantly blaming Democrats for the deaths of three women murdered by migrants who were in the country illegally. At the same time, Trump would consistently talk about all of the “murderers,” “rapists,” and “drug dealers” crossing the border at his rallies.
Democrats should have used both of those talking points to show the American people how Trump “cared more about winning the election than protecting the American people” by blocking a bill that would stop all of those “criminals” from “flowing into” the country.
Instead, he didn’t want to fix anything. If another woman would have been murdered by someone here illegally, it would have been “his fault.”
The problem with messaging surrounding the Border Bill was caused by (as it often does) Fox News. They reported the same lie Trump was telling: He stopped the bipartisan border bill from passing because it was a horrible bill and it would’ve given every immigrant crossing the border “automatic amnesty.”
It didn’t matter that the bill came from a Republican Senator. People watching Fox News wouldn’t know that. Nor would they have known what was actually in the bill.
Okay. Back to ICE.
Who is ICE and What Do They Do?
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is a federal law enforcement agency that’s part of the Department of Homeland Security, currently led by Kristi Noem.
On paper, the goal of ICE is to conduct investigations into potential illegal immigrants, to enforce the immigration laws of this country, protect public safety, and preserve national security.
These are the official duties of ICE, but the issue is that this body seems to answer to no one, able to do whatever they want without the restraints that other law enforcement agencies must abide by.
ICE is Growing and Growing
It’s apparent to most that the United States is becoming a more authoritarian state, something that we’ll look at in a little more detail later.
Recently, Congress awarded ICE an unprecedentedly large budget, allowing them to hire 80,000 new agents and officers. The agency now has the highest budget in government. They were given more money than the entire military in some countries.
In new recruitment ads currently running on television in big cities, ICE is explicitly targeting current local law enforcement officers, offering a number of incentives:
- Fantastic benefits
- $50,000 sign-on bonus
- Student loan debt relief
- An ability to work unrestricted by policies that hold police officers back (in other words, “We won’t stop you from assaulting people”).
The issue isn’t with the incentives being offered to new recruits, but with the way these jobs are being advertised to current police officers.
They’re promoting the fact that ICE officers are unsupervised and unrestricted. This is incredibly problematic as it appears to give an unrestricted amount of power to anyone who puts on the uniform. One of the claims made in the ad points out how criminals get away with everything while police officers’ “hands are tied,” hinting at policies that prevent officers from assaulting/shooting people.
What Evidence Suggests ICE is a Problem?
There are currently several videos circulating on social media that show ICE officers with their faces almost entirely covered by black fabric masks. This shields them by providing anonymity—something government officials shouldn’t have.
There are also videos of ICE agents assaulting immigrants and bystanders. DHS recently removed one of their agents after a video went viral of him grabbing a woman and violently shoving her to the ground.
The only reason we’re seeing accountability in this particular case is because the agent’s violent behavior was caught on video. Imagine how many times these assaults happen with no one around to document them.
This wasn’t the only video of an agent assaulting a woman. Another video captured an ICE officer pushing a woman to the ground then later putting her in a chokehold. In this case, the woman was an American citizen peacefully protesting in front of an ICE detention center.
We touched briefly on the advertisements suggesting that individuals are allowed to work unrestricted. This has been further evidenced by officers refusing to answer questions about which agency they work for when asked by civilians.
ICE has also refused, on numerous occasions, to answer questions about where they’re taking detainees, instead simply ignoring the questions altogether.
If that wasn’t enough, there have been recent reports of approximately 80 detainees who were listed as being held in a certain facility, but weren’t actually there. The detention facility didn’t know anything about where those people were. Maybe they had been deported?
People are disappearing from ICE detention centers. There have been hundreds of cases filed against ICE for mistreatment of people in their care, with the abused including pregnant women and children.
At present, the U.S. is officially a liberal democracy, but how long is this going to last? With the expansion of ICE, despite the legal cases constantly filed against them, this is clear evidence that the country is on a swift path to becoming an Authoritarian state.
Other federal agencies, such as the FBI, CIA, etc., still have restrictions on what they can and cannot do, whereas ICE seems to have free reign. In fact, ICE is becoming more like a specialized secret police force rather than simply focusing on immigration and customs.
ICE has gotten worse over the years, and it continues to be politicized by the current administration. If you look at the previous few years and how much the country has changed, you’ll notice an undeniable shift towards the Right. The Left is now referred to as “enemies from within” and “domestic terrorists”.
