United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Running Head: UNITED STATES ICE 1
UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT
Name
Institutional Affiliation

UNITED STATES ICE 2
History
ICE is a United State’s Federal Government’s law enforcement agency established in
2003 with its headquarters in Washington DC. The agency falls under the Department of
Homeland Security jurisdiction and is tasked with the responsibility of investigating and
enforcing more than 400 United State statutes and maintaining at selected diplomatic overseas
missions.ICE is made up of two primary component s each with specific responsibilities. These
include Enforcement and removal operations and Homeland security Investigations. The
formation of the Agency came as a result of the Homeland Security Act. Out of the government
reorganization that came with the enactment of the Act US immigration and Customs
Enforcement was born(Timmons, 2018). The reorganization saw a number of federal agencies
being placed under the newly created ICE agency by the then president Bush. The agency
together with other two agencies US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the US and
Customs and Border Protection took up the role of the now obsolete US Customs Service and
Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Reason for formation
The formation of ICE was necessitated by the terrorist attacks that occurred in the
country on September 11, 2001. The multiple attacks carried out by al-Qaeda, an Islamic
Terrorist group led to the death of 2996 and injuring of more than 6000 others. The attack also
resulted in infrastructural damages estimated to be more than $10 billion. The incidents occurred
after four major US Airlines were hijacked simultaneously by 19 terrorists belonging to the
terrorist group. It was believed that all the 19 terrorists were immigrants who had been in the
country legally, which necessitated major policy reforms in as far as immigration was concerned

UNITED STATES ICE 3
(Lartey, 2018). The formation of the agency was motivated by the government’s attempt to
improve efficiency in the detection of suspected terrorists.
The Immigration and Naturalization Agency which had been in existence since 1993 was
tasked with the primary responsibility of overseeing all permanent residency and immigration
from the Country’s Department of Justice. Following the September 2001 attacks, George W
Bush the then president established the Department of Homeland Security to which ICE was a
sub-agency. In order to ensure that the national security of the United States and the safety of its
citizens were better protected in response to what had happened on September 11, 2001, ICE was
granted an exceptional combination of criminal and civil authorities. Its primary role was,
therefore, to ensure the promotion of public safety and homeland security through the
enforcement of civil and criminal federal laws, governing immigration, trade, customs and
border control. The agency does not only target individuals but also materials and money that
support criminal and terrorist activities. It is responsible for the enforcement of the Country’s
immigration Laws as well as 287(g) and secure communities programs. Its other function
includes deportation and detention of immigrants. Under this function, the agency detects,
detains and deports immigrants believed to be living in the United States of America illegally.
Transformation of ICE
Since its formation, the agency has shifted its focus in different directions under different
administrations. With the assumption of office by former president Barrack Obama, the agency
shifted its focus to undocumented immigrants living in the US and who had committed serious
crimes. Under Donald Trump’s administration, however, this mandate has been broadened and
its focus now is on anybody believed to be in the country illegally (Timmons, 2018).