U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety.
The ICE mission is executed through the enforcement of more than 400 federal statutes and focuses on customs violations, immigration enforcement, preventing terrorism and combating the illegal movement of people and goods. ICE has two primary and distinct law enforcement components, namely, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO in addition to three supporting divisions: Management & Program Administration, Office of Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) and Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).
Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), which primarily deals with the deportation and removal of undocumented non-citizens, is among the most public and contentious function of ICE. ERO maintains the custodial facilities used to detain people that are illegally present in the United States. In interior offices, ERO officers primarily conduct targeted enforcement operations to apprehend aliens engaged in serious criminal activity. For example, in fiscal year 2020, 90% of those aliens apprehended by ERO had criminal convictions or pending charges at the time of their administrative arrest. This FY 2020 arrest statistic includes 1,800 homicide related offenses, 1,600 kidnappings, 3,800 robberies, 37,000 assaults, and 10,000 sex crimes. At border offices, ERO officers receive and detain illegal immigrants apprehended by Border Patrol. Illegal immigrants apprehended at the border have significantly lower levels of criminal history than those arrested by ERO in the interior of the United States.
ICE maintains domestic offices throughout the United States and attachés at major U.S. diplomatic missions overseas. ICE personnel (special agents and officers) do not patrol American borders; rather, that role is performed by the United States Border Patrol. ERO and HSI operate as two independent law enforcement agencies and have completely separate mission statements. HSI is focused on the disruption of transnational crime, where as ERO is responsible for the apprehension, detention and removal of illegal immigrants.
The Acting Director is Tae Johnson. The agency has not had a Senate-confirmed director since Sarah Saldaña stepped down on January 20, 2017.
The ICE mission is executed through the enforcement of more than 400 federal statutes and focuses on customs violations, immigration enforcement, preventing terrorism and combating the illegal movement of people and goods. ICE has two primary and distinct law enforcement components, namely, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO in addition to three supporting divisions: Management & Program Administration, Office of Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) and Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).
Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), which primarily deals with the deportation and removal of undocumented non-citizens, is among the most public and contentious function of ICE. ERO maintains the custodial facilities used to detain people that are illegally present in the United States. In interior offices, ERO officers primarily conduct targeted enforcement operations to apprehend aliens engaged in serious criminal activity. For example, in fiscal year 2020, 90% of those aliens apprehended by ERO had criminal convictions or pending charges at the time of their administrative arrest. This FY 2020 arrest statistic includes 1,800 homicide related offenses, 1,600 kidnappings, 3,800 robberies, 37,000 assaults, and 10,000 sex crimes. At border offices, ERO officers receive and detain illegal immigrants apprehended by Border Patrol. Illegal immigrants apprehended at the border have significantly lower levels of criminal history than those arrested by ERO in the interior of the United States.
ICE maintains domestic offices throughout the United States and attachés at major U.S. diplomatic missions overseas. ICE personnel (special agents and officers) do not patrol American borders; rather, that role is performed by the United States Border Patrol. ERO and HSI operate as two independent law enforcement agencies and have completely separate mission statements. HSI is focused on the disruption of transnational crime, where as ERO is responsible for the apprehension, detention and removal of illegal immigrants.
The Acting Director is Tae Johnson. The agency has not had a Senate-confirmed director since Sarah Saldaña stepped down on January 20, 2017.
Structure
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is responsible for identifying and eliminating border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security vulnerabilities. There is an estimate of about 20,000 ICE employees in approximately 400 offices within the United States and 53 countries.
The organization is composed of two law enforcement directorates (HSI and ERO) and several support divisions each headed by a director who reports to an Executive Associate Director.[20] The divisions of ICE provide investigation, interdiction and security services to the public and other law enforcement partners in the federal and local sectors.
The Director of ICE 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.
HSI special agents investigate violations of more than 400 U.S. laws that threaten the national security of the United States such as counter-proliferation; counter-terrorism; human smuggling and trafficking; weapons smuggling and export enforcement; narcotics smuggling and trafficking; document and benefit fraud; the manufacturing, sale, and use of counterfeit immigration and identity documents; human rights violations; transnational gang activity; financial crimes, including money laundering and bulk cash smuggling; cyber crime; child exploitation and sex tourism; trade crimes such as commercial fraud and intellectual property theft; smuggling of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and other merchandise; mass-marketing fraud; art theft; international cultural property and antiquities crimes; and visa security. HSI agents can be requested to provide security for VIPs, and also augment the U.S. Secret Service during overtaxed times such as special security events and elections.
HSI was formerly known as the ICE Office of Investigations (OI). HSI special agents investigate the largest range of crimes and have the statutory authority to enforce the Immigration and Nationality Act (Title 8), U.S. customs laws (Title 19), general federal crimes (Title 18), the Controlled Substances Act (Title 21), as well as Titles 5, 6, 12, 22, 26, 28, 31, 46, 49, and 50 of the U.S. Code.
The Special Agents of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are Series 1811 Criminal Investigators, analogous to agencies such as the FBI, DEA, ATF, Secret Service, US Postal Inspection Service.
HSI has played a key role in investigating and arresting citizens suspected of possessing and distributing child pornography.
In April 2006, ICE's Cyber Crimes Center, Child Exploitation Section, initiated an investigation into criminal organizations that distributed child pornography.[citation needed] The project, dubbed Operation Flicker, found that there were a number of government employees, including "dozens of Pentagon staff and contractors with high-level security clearance", who had downloaded child pornography.
SRT is a collateral duty open to HSI special agents assigned to an office with a certified team. To qualify, candidates must pass a physical fitness test, qualify with multiple firearms by shooting 90% or better in full tactical gear, and pass an oral interview process. If a candidate passes these stages and is voted on the local team, they are then designated "Green Team" members and allowed to train with the certified team members. Green Team members are eventually sent to the SRT Initial Certification Course at the Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs, Tactical Operations Unit (OFTP/TOU) Fort Benning, Georgia, where they must pass additional physical fitness, firearms, scenario-based and written assessments. Out of approximately 7,100 special agents, there are currently only approximately 300 certified SRT members nationwide.
HSI SRTs often conduct training exercises with various federal, state and local teams, and also assist other teams during national events or large-scale operations that require multiple high-risk scenarios to be conducted simultaneously. The working relationship between the SRTs and the U.S. Department of Defense's U.S. Special Operations Command has led to SOCOM providing the SRTs with excess Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), firearms, and other gear designed for use by U.S. Special operations forces.
Deportation officers operate strategically placed Fugitive Operations Teams whose function is to locate, apprehend, and remove immigrants who have absconded from immigration proceedings and remain in the United States with outstanding warrants for deportation. Due to limited staffing, ERO Fugitive Operations typically target illegal immigrants with a history of serious criminal convictions (i.e. homicide, sexual assaults, aggravated felonies). ERO Officers do not randomly target illegal immigrants for detention and civil arrest due to current case law and internal policies.
ERO manages the Secure Communities program which identifies removable immigrants located in jails and prisons. Fingerprints submitted as part of the normal criminal arrest and booking process will automatically check both the Integrated Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) of the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division and the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) of the Department of Homeland Security's US-VISIT Program.
ERO was formerly known as the Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO).
The Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (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.
The Office of Professional Responsibility is responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct involving employees of ICE.
ICE Air is the aviation division of ICE that charters aircraft or books commercial flights to send deportees back to their home countries. There are 10 aircraft used to send deportees and has a working list of 185 countries. Deportees have legs and arms secured while boarding, handcuffs are removed during flight and all shackles removed upon disembarking.
ICE Health Service Corps (IHSC) is a division that is responsible for providing direct patient care to approximately 13,500 detainees housed in 21 detention facilities throughout the nation. Their stated mission is to provide the best care to those in ICE custody, practicing on the core values of Integrity, Commitment, Accountability, Service, and Excellence. The IHSC team is made up of around 1,000 members that consist of US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers, healthcare professionals, and federal civil service workers.
The Federal Protective Service (FPS) was moved from the General Services Administration (GSA) to ICE upon the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The FPS was later moved out of ICE to the National Protection Programs Directorate.
Originally a part of the U.S. Customs Service's Office of Investigations, the Office of Air and Marine (then called the Air and Marine Interdiction Division) was transferred to ICE in 2003 during the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, becoming the Office of Air and Marine Operations. Due in part to a 500 million dollar budgetary dispute between CBP and ICE, in 2004 ICE Air and Marine Operations was transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP Air and Marine still works closely with ICE to support the agency's domestic and international law enforcement operations.
The Office of Detention Policy and Planning was responsible developing and maintaining ICE's National Detention Standards, which set out detailed rules for how immigration detainees were to be treated differently than criminal inmates. In April 2017, President Donald Trump decided to close the office and to stop including the standards in new jail contracts.
The organization is composed of two law enforcement directorates (HSI and ERO) and several support divisions each headed by a director who reports to an Executive Associate Director.[20] The divisions of ICE provide investigation, interdiction and security services to the public and other law enforcement partners in the federal and local sectors.
The Director of ICE 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.
Structure
- Director (until July 2010 the title had been "Assistant Secretary") - Tae Johnson
- Deputy Director - Patrick J. Lechleitner
- Chief of Staff - Timothy Perry
- Enforcement and Removal Operations - Acting Executive Associate Director Corey A. Price
- Removal Division
- Secure Communities and Enforcement Division
- Immigration Health Services Division
- Mission Support Division
- Detention Management Division
- Local Field Offices
- Homeland Security Investigations - Acting Executive Associate Director Steve K. Francis
- Domestic Operations Division
- Intelligence Division
- International Operations Division
- Mission Support
- National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center
- National Security Investigations Division
- Management and Administration - Executive Associate Director Staci Barrera
- Office of Professional Responsibility - Associate Director Waldemar Rodriguez
- Office of the Principal Legal Advisor - Principal Advisor John D. Trasviña
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
HSI is the primary investigative arm of Department of Homeland Security and consists of more than 10,300 employees who are assigned to over 210 cities throughout the U.S. and 80 international offices in 53 countries across the world. Approximately 7,100+ Special Agents (Criminal Investigators) are included among the over 10,300 HSI employees, making it the second largest investigative service in the United States, behind the Federal Bureau of Investigation.HSI special agents investigate violations of more than 400 U.S. laws that threaten the national security of the United States such as counter-proliferation; counter-terrorism; human smuggling and trafficking; weapons smuggling and export enforcement; narcotics smuggling and trafficking; document and benefit fraud; the manufacturing, sale, and use of counterfeit immigration and identity documents; human rights violations; transnational gang activity; financial crimes, including money laundering and bulk cash smuggling; cyber crime; child exploitation and sex tourism; trade crimes such as commercial fraud and intellectual property theft; smuggling of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and other merchandise; mass-marketing fraud; art theft; international cultural property and antiquities crimes; and visa security. HSI agents can be requested to provide security for VIPs, and also augment the U.S. Secret Service during overtaxed times such as special security events and elections.
HSI was formerly known as the ICE Office of Investigations (OI). HSI special agents investigate the largest range of crimes and have the statutory authority to enforce the Immigration and Nationality Act (Title 8), U.S. customs laws (Title 19), general federal crimes (Title 18), the Controlled Substances Act (Title 21), as well as Titles 5, 6, 12, 22, 26, 28, 31, 46, 49, and 50 of the U.S. Code.
The Special Agents of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are Series 1811 Criminal Investigators, analogous to agencies such as the FBI, DEA, ATF, Secret Service, US Postal Inspection Service.
HSI Domestic Operations
The largest cadre of Special Agents are located within Domestic Operations. HSI is primarily a criminal investigative agency and consistently leads the feds in arrests. In FY 2020, HSI Special Agents made 31,915 criminal arrests, rescued or identified 1,012 child exploitation victims, and seized $341 million worth of counterfeit goods, 6,195 lbs of fentanyl and $1.8 billion in currency & assets from criminal organizations.HSI has played a key role in investigating and arresting citizens suspected of possessing and distributing child pornography.
In April 2006, ICE's Cyber Crimes Center, Child Exploitation Section, initiated an investigation into criminal organizations that distributed child pornography.[citation needed] The project, dubbed Operation Flicker, found that there were a number of government employees, including "dozens of Pentagon staff and contractors with high-level security clearance", who had downloaded child pornography.
HSI Office of Intelligence
The Office of Intelligence is a subcomponent of HSI that employs a variety of special agents and Intelligence Research Specialists to facilitate HSI's tactical and strategic intelligence demands. Collectively, these intelligence professionals collect, analyze, and disseminate intelligence for use by the operational elements of DHS. The Office of Intelligence works closely with the intelligence components of other federal, state, and local agencies. Many HSI field offices assign intelligence analysts to specific groups, such as financial crimes, counter-proliferation, narcotics, or document fraud; or they can be assigned to a residential intelligence unit, known as a Field Intelligence Group (FIG). HSI agents assigned to FIGs generally focus on Human Intelligence (HUMINT) collection.HSI International Operations
International Operations, formerly known as the Office of International Affairs (OIA), is a subcomponent of HSI with agents stationed in 60 locations around the world. HSI's foreign offices, known as Attaché Offices, work with foreign governments to identify and combat transnational criminal organizations before they threaten the United States. IO also facilitates domestic HSI investigations by providing intelligence from host countries, conducting collateral investigations, and facilitating international investigations conducted by field offices within the United States.HSI Special Response Teams
Seventeen HSI field offices maintain a Special Response Team (SRT) that operates as a federal SWAT element for the office's area of responsibility (AOR). SRT was founded under the U.S. Customs Service as the Warrant Entry and Tactical Team (WETT) and were renamed to SRT in 1998. The SRT handles HSI's high-risk arrest and search warrants, barricaded subjects, rural area operations, VIP protection, sniper coverage for high-risk operations, and security for National Security Events. HSI's active SRTs are located in Tampa, Miami, Arizona (Phoenix), New Orleans, Houston, New York, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Antonio, San Juan, Detroit, San Francisco, El Paso, Chicago, San Diego and Washington, D.C. There is also a team of instructors and coordinators stationed full-time in Columbus, Georgia. These teams primarily deploy to handle high-risk operations, but also assist in events such as Hurricane Katrina, the Haiti earthquake 2010, and other natural disasters around the globe.SRT is a collateral duty open to HSI special agents assigned to an office with a certified team. To qualify, candidates must pass a physical fitness test, qualify with multiple firearms by shooting 90% or better in full tactical gear, and pass an oral interview process. If a candidate passes these stages and is voted on the local team, they are then designated "Green Team" members and allowed to train with the certified team members. Green Team members are eventually sent to the SRT Initial Certification Course at the Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs, Tactical Operations Unit (OFTP/TOU) Fort Benning, Georgia, where they must pass additional physical fitness, firearms, scenario-based and written assessments. Out of approximately 7,100 special agents, there are currently only approximately 300 certified SRT members nationwide.
HSI SRTs often conduct training exercises with various federal, state and local teams, and also assist other teams during national events or large-scale operations that require multiple high-risk scenarios to be conducted simultaneously. The working relationship between the SRTs and the U.S. Department of Defense's U.S. Special Operations Command has led to SOCOM providing the SRTs with excess Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), firearms, and other gear designed for use by U.S. Special operations forces.
Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO)
ERO is responsible for enforcing the nation's immigration laws and ensuring the departure of removable immigrants from the United States. ERO uses its detention and deportation officers to identify, arrest, and remove immigrants who violate U.S. immigration law. Deportation officers are responsible for the transportation and detention of immigrants in ICE custody to include the removal of immigrants to their country of origin. Deportation officers arrest immigrants for violations of U.S. immigration law, monitor cases during deportation proceedings, supervise released immigrants, and remove immigrants from the United States.Deportation officers operate strategically placed Fugitive Operations Teams whose function is to locate, apprehend, and remove immigrants who have absconded from immigration proceedings and remain in the United States with outstanding warrants for deportation. Due to limited staffing, ERO Fugitive Operations typically target illegal immigrants with a history of serious criminal convictions (i.e. homicide, sexual assaults, aggravated felonies). ERO Officers do not randomly target illegal immigrants for detention and civil arrest due to current case law and internal policies.
ERO manages the Secure Communities program which identifies removable immigrants located in jails and prisons. Fingerprints submitted as part of the normal criminal arrest and booking process will automatically check both the Integrated Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) of the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division and the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) of the Department of Homeland Security's US-VISIT Program.
ERO was formerly known as the Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO).
Other ICE Divisions
The Office of State, Local and Tribal Coordination (OSLTC) is ICE's primary outreach and communications component for state, local and tribal stakeholders. It is responsible for building and improving relationships, and coordinating activities with state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies and through public engagement. It also fosters and sustains relationships with federal, state and local government officials and coordinates ICE ACCESS programs (Agreements of Cooperation in Communities to Enhance Safety and Security).The Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (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.
The Office of Professional Responsibility is responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct involving employees of ICE.
ICE Air is the aviation division of ICE that charters aircraft or books commercial flights to send deportees back to their home countries. There are 10 aircraft used to send deportees and has a working list of 185 countries. Deportees have legs and arms secured while boarding, handcuffs are removed during flight and all shackles removed upon disembarking.
ICE Health Service Corps (IHSC) is a division that is responsible for providing direct patient care to approximately 13,500 detainees housed in 21 detention facilities throughout the nation. Their stated mission is to provide the best care to those in ICE custody, practicing on the core values of Integrity, Commitment, Accountability, Service, and Excellence. The IHSC team is made up of around 1,000 members that consist of US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers, healthcare professionals, and federal civil service workers.
Former units
The Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) was aligned into ICE shortly after the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. On October 16, 2005, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff officially approved the transfer of the Federal Air Marshal Service from the Bureau of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the TSA as part of a broader departmental reorganization to align functions consistent with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "Second Stage Review" findings for:- consolidating and strengthening aviation law enforcement and security at the Federal level;
- creating a common approach to stakeholder outreach; and
- improving the coordination and efficiency of aviation security operations.
The Federal Protective Service (FPS) was moved from the General Services Administration (GSA) to ICE upon the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The FPS was later moved out of ICE to the National Protection Programs Directorate.
Originally a part of the U.S. Customs Service's Office of Investigations, the Office of Air and Marine (then called the Air and Marine Interdiction Division) was transferred to ICE in 2003 during the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, becoming the Office of Air and Marine Operations. Due in part to a 500 million dollar budgetary dispute between CBP and ICE, in 2004 ICE Air and Marine Operations was transferred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP Air and Marine still works closely with ICE to support the agency's domestic and international law enforcement operations.
The Office of Detention Policy and Planning was responsible developing and maintaining ICE's National Detention Standards, which set out detailed rules for how immigration detainees were to be treated differently than criminal inmates. In April 2017, President Donald Trump decided to close the office and to stop including the standards in new jail contracts.
History
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was formed under 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 FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.
The agencies that were either moved entirely or merged in part into ICE included the criminal investigative and intelligence resources of the United States Customs Service, the criminal investigative, detention and deportation resources of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Federal Protective Service. The Federal Protective Service was later transferred from ICE to the National Protection and Programs Directorate effective October 28, 2009. In 2003, Asa Hutchinson moved the Federal Air Marshals Service from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to ICE,[15] but Michael Chertoff moved them back to the TSA in 2005.
The origins of HSI Special Agents date back to the formations of the United States Customs Service in 1789. The taxing of imports led to the creation of the Treasury Department and its sub-components (i.e. Division of Customs Chief). Later, the Industrial Revolution led to some of the first immigration related laws targeting forced labor, human trafficking and child exploitation.
The agencies that were either moved entirely or merged in part into ICE included the criminal investigative and intelligence resources of the United States Customs Service, the criminal investigative, detention and deportation resources of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Federal Protective Service. The Federal Protective Service was later transferred from ICE to the National Protection and Programs Directorate effective October 28, 2009. In 2003, Asa Hutchinson moved the Federal Air Marshals Service from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to ICE,[15] but Michael Chertoff moved them back to the TSA in 2005.
The origins of HSI Special Agents date back to the formations of the United States Customs Service in 1789. The taxing of imports led to the creation of the Treasury Department and its sub-components (i.e. Division of Customs Chief). Later, the Industrial Revolution led to some of the first immigration related laws targeting forced labor, human trafficking and child exploitation.
"Protecting National Security and Upholding Public Safety"
Parent Organization
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