U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Since its establishment, ICE has become an important aspect of federal immigration policy. However, in recent years, some have criticized the scope of the agency’s power as too broad.

Updated: 2022-08-11

History

2009-2011

ATF Gun-Running Scandal

Between 2009 and 2011, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) ran a series of controversial sting operations over the southern border.

2003-2014

Foundations of ICE

In 2003, the Department of Homeland Security expanded to include Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a powerful federal agency.

Introduction

Scope

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) is responsible for detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants once they’ve made it into the United States (not at the border). As of June 2021, an estimated 10.3 million undocumented immigrants lived in the United States. Under the Obama administration, ICE arrests reached an all-time high based on a set of enforcement priorities in 2014. President Trump issued his own executive orders in 2017, which targeted a much broader group of undocumented immigrants. Even though ICE arrests rose 30% in the 2017 fiscal year, they remained at levels far below the peak reached during the Obama administration. When Joe Biden became President, he was quick to reverse many of Trump’s actions, causing ICE arrests to fall by more than 60%, compared to the last three months of the Trump administration.

Arrests and Deportation

During President Obama’s first term in office, ICE arrests reached a record high: 1.18 million in three years. In 2014, he signed a series of executive orders – the Priority Enforcement Program – designed to target criminal undocumented immigrants (instead of innocent immigrants). His orders established a series of guidelines for the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize removing immigrants thought to be national security threats, immigrants convicted of serious crimes, and recent border crossers.

Bipartisan Policy Center

In 2017, President Trump signed an executive order and DHS memo that rescinded all of Obama’s priorities for removal. The new priorities targeted a much broader set of unauthorized persons for removal: they empowered ICE officers with broad discretionary authority to apprehend and detain any immigrant believed to have violated immigration law. After President Trump signed these new priorities into law, ICE arrests rose 30% in fiscal 2017 but were still far lower than the total during President Obama’s first term in office.

President Biden has taken a different approach than either of his predecessors. During his first 100 days in office, he signed a record 94 executive actions related to immigration (compared to Trump’s 30), 52 of which have been targeted at undoing the Trump administration’s orders. On Inauguration Day, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued new, temporary enforcement priorities which limited the noncitizens that ICE officers could apprehend. The impact of these new priorities has manifested quickly: monthly ICE arrests have decreased by more than 60%, compared to the last three months of the Trump administration. For comparison, by Trump’s first month in office, ICE arrests increased by 26% above the average of the last three full months of the Obama administration.

Pew Research Center

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Discussion Questions

How much power should the federal government give to ICE?
If arrests were at a record high under the Obama administration, how important is it for President Biden to take a different approach?
Which president’s approach do you agree with the most? The least?

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Narratives

Left Narrative

The federal government must limit ICE’s power, thereby preventing the targeting of immigrants that has caused anger and fear in those communities. Instead of hunting down undocumented immigrants who seek asylum and forcefully removing them out of the country, separating them from their children and families, we should work to create a path to citizenship for them.

Right Narrative

Immigrants should wait in their country of origin or stay on a visa until they can lawfully immigrate to the United States. ICE officers play an integral role in removing those who have broken U.S. immigration law. If an individual wishes to return once deported, they should enter the country legally.

Bipartisan Narrative

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Classroom Content

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