UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security.
ICE’s stated mission is to conduct criminal investigations, enforce immigration laws, preserve national security, and protect public safety.
ICE was created as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 following the September 11 attacks. It absorbed the prior functions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the United States Customs Service.
ICE has two distinct law enforcement components – Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
Who are the employees of ICE?
38% of ICE employees are women. A significant number of ICE employees are former law enforcement officers – many of them are recruited from other federal and state agencies. Over 30% of the employees are former military veterans, and about 14.6% of those veterans are disabled veterans. The ethnic breakdown of ICE employees is approximately 55% White, 19% Hispanic or Latino,15% Black or African American, 4% Asian and 2% multiracial.
The racial breakdown of ICE employees reflects a similar breakdown of race across America.
According to the 2026 U.S. Census Bureau, the current breakdown of the U.S. population by race is the following:
- White – 57.5%
- Hispanic or Latino – 20%
- Black or African American – 12.6%
- Asian – 6.7%
- Two or more races – 2.5%
- Native American – .7%
The conflict between ICE and sanctuary cities highlights significant tensions within the Democratic Party regarding immigration policies.
Sanctuary cities are jurisdictions that limit their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, particularly with agencies like ICE. These cities aim to protect illegal immigrants from deportation and foster trust within immigration communities.
Many Democratic leaders opposed the enforcement of immigration policies by the federal administration advocating for the implementation of sanctuary city protections. Some Democrats have crossed party lines to support measures that crack down on sanctuary cities, reflecting internal divisions on immigration strategy.
The federal administration has threatened to cut federal funding to sanctuary cities as a method to enforce immigration laws more strictly. This tactic has led to ongoing debates within the Democratic Party about balancing local autonomy with federal immigration enforcement.
Democratic Party leaders of the past adopted policies such as limiting detention, expanding asylum access, reducing interior enforcement priorities, or opposing border restrictions – contributed to a large increase in illegal border crossings over recent years. The scale of migration overwhelmed the immigration system, strained local resources, and created security and humanitarian problems that became politically and practically impossible to manage.
Language around immigration became politically charged because different terms emphasize different aspects of the issue. Major news organizations and style guides – such as the Associated Press – gradually shifted toward terms like “undocumented immigrant” over the last decade, influencing political and media language more broadly.
Critics who used the term “Illegal immigrant” argued that it was straightforward and accurate. It referred to someone who violated immigration law, whether by entering the country unlawfully, overstayed a visa, or ignored a removal order. They saw alternative terms like “undocumented immigrant” or “unauthorized migrant” as euphemisms that softened the legal violation or shifted attention away from enforcement and sovereignty concerns.
Many see using these alternative terms as minimizing the fact that immigration rules were broken, and that perception can contribute to frustration, distrust in institutions, and a belief that elites or media organizations are avoiding plain language.
With a new federal administration installed, agencies like ICE were now being tasked to restore order by enforcing existing immigration laws, locating people with removal orders, targeting criminal offenders, and supporting border-security efforts. ICE has been combating human trafficking and exploitation, foreign and domestic criminal gangs and drug smuggling. ICE and other federal agencies have a mandate and obligation to carry out laws passed by Congress.
Some members of the Democratic Party, along with various progressive and left-wing activist groups, have called for reducing the funding, restructuring, or in some cases abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These demands became more visible after the Trump Administration closed and secured the borders of the United States.
Eliminating ICE would weaken immigration enforcement, encourage more illegal immigration, and reduce the government’s ability to combat human and drug trafficking as well as organized crime.
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Supporters of cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE point to examples where cities or counties targeted repeat offenders, gang members, drug traffickers, or violent fugitives who were also in the country illegally. In those jurisdictions, officials reported that coordinated operations helped reduce certain categories of crime, disrupt foreign and local gangs, and removed individuals with outstanding warrants or prior convictions.
Some sheriffs and police departments in states such as Texas, Florida, and Tennessee publicly credited cooperation agreements with helping identify repeat offenders already in jails. They said that these prevented individuals accused or convicted of violent crimes from being released back into the community while immigration proceedings were pending.
Programs such as the federal 287(g) partnership allowed specially trained local officers to work with ICE on immigration enforcement inside jails. Advocates of these programs reported that they were especially effective when narrowly focused on people arrested for serious offenses such as assault, narcotics trafficking, weapons crimes, or organized gang activity. Some officials in cooperating jurisdictions claimed declines in gang-related violence or repeat-offender activity after sustained enforcement efforts.
Cities and counties that cooperated with ICE have reported that information sharing between agencies improved tracking of transnational criminal organizations, including groups involved in fentanyl trafficking, human smuggling, and cartel-linked operations. This cooperation helped remove individuals who repeatedly cycle through the criminal justice system.
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ICE officers are federal employees who carry out laws passed by Congress and enforced under presidential administrations of both major political parties. Many employees of ICE view their role similarly to other law-enforcement or public-safety professions – enforcing court orders, investigating trafficking networks, arresting violent offenders, locating fugitives, and handling immigration violations.
Harsh rhetoric portraying all ICE employees as “evil” or “monsters” has contributed to threats, harassment, or violence against officers and their families. Federal officials and media reports have noted increases in threats directed at immigration agents during periods of intense political tension over immigration enforcement.
ICE agents arrest the worst of the worst including pedophiles, rapists, murderers, and other violent criminals. They report everyday to do their jobs and hope that they will return home safely to their families. They are patriotic Americans. James Peifer
