ICE is the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, formed after 9/11 to protect the US from future attacks. It incorporates several investigative branches and works with intelligence organizations. ICE is involved in investigating and deporting illegal immigrants, securing US borders, identifying terrorist threats, breaking up gangs, investigating workers in American ports, securing federal buildings, monitoring American borders, protecting intellectual property rights, and managing forensic records and cybercrime centers. The agency’s actions have been criticized for overstepping certain bounds, such as inspecting personal computers of people traveling to the US.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Like DHS, ICE was formed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, as part of a massive reorganization campaign designed to protect the country from future attacks. ICE agents have a wide variety of duties under the law and can be found serving in an assortment of locations around the world, as part of the “layered” approach to American security used by the Department of internal security.
When ICE was formed, it incorporated the investigative branches of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the US Customs and Border Protection, and the Federal Protective Service. In addition to tapping into these police services, ICE also works closely with American intelligence organizations such as the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the officers have far-reaching investigative skills that have been criticized by some individuals concerned about civil liberties.
ICE often makes headlines for its involvement in the investigation and deportation of illegal immigrants. ICE raids are common in urban areas where large illegal populations are suspected, and have sometimes attracted negative attention due to the rushed work, sometimes resulting in the detention or deportation of legal citizens or US resident aliens. However, the ICE is not just about illegal immigration.
The agency also secures US borders by searching for and identifying vulnerabilities, inspecting cargoes being transported across US borders, and investigating drug and human trafficking rings entering or leaving the United States. ICE agents also attempt to identify and remove terrorist threats, break up gangs, investigate workers in American ports, secure federal buildings, and monitor American borders for signs that American technology and munitions are being illegally exported. ICE also protects intellectual property rights and manages the examination of forensic records and cybercrime centers used by ICE agents and representatives of other agencies.
ICE is headed by an Under Secretary, who reports to the Secretary for Homeland Security. Some of ICE’s actions have been criticized as appearing to overstep certain bounds. In 2008, for example, ICE made headlines when it was announced that ICE officials would be able to inspect the personal computers of people traveling to the United States for signs of violations of the United States Code. Privacy advocates have stressed that such searches would be of dubious legality and could potentially compromise the security of sensitive data such as customer information, secret projects and other information that people and organizations would prefer to keep private.
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