With more than 16,500 employees and an annual budget of nearly $5 billion, ICE has broad law enforcement powers and authorities, with responsibility for enforcing more than 400 federal statutes within the United States. Under those authorities, ICE’s five operational divisions are responsible for enforcing laws that ensure national security and public safety.

By bringing together customs and immigration enforcement authorities under one roof, ICE can fight crime and terrorist activity in ways not possible prior to the founding of DHS. Investigators on immigration cases can track the money trails that support smuggling and document fraud operations; financial investigators have additional tools in using immigration violations to build cases against criminals; sexual predators that prey on the innocent are more readily targeted than ever before.

Moreover, ICE has a sizable international presence, with more than 50 offices around the globe coordinating activities with partners in foreign governments on a wide range of investigative matters, including visa security, illegal arms trafficking, document and identity fraud, drug trafficking, child pornography and sex tourism, immigration and customs fraud, intellectual property rights violations, financial crime, human smuggling and trafficking, and much more.

Topics of Interest

ACCESS/287(g) - Law Enforcement Partnership

ICE ACCESS (Agreements of Cooperation in Communities to Enhance Safety and Security) provides local law enforcement agencies an opportunity to team with ICE to combat specific challenges in their communities. The 287(g) program is only one component under the ICE ACCESS umbrella of services and programs offered for assistance to local law enforcement officers. ICE developed the ACCESS program in response to the widespread interest from local law enforcement agencies who have requested ICE assistance through the 287(g) program, which trains local officers to enforce immigration law as authorized through section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Read More

Child Exploitation

Operation Predator is a comprehensive initiative designed to protect young people from alien smugglers, human traffickers, child pornographers and other predatory criminals. Read More

Cyber Crimes

The Cyber Branch oversees programs designed to support the investigation of crimes that occur on, or are facilitated by, the Internet; and develops the computer forensic capabilities of ICE. Read More

Family Residential Standards

Each standard is written to ensure that all aspects of operation are consistent with national best practices and provide for a dignified and respectful environment. Read More

Federal Protective Service

The Federal Protective Service efforts of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) keep federal buildings and their tenants safe from harm through a variety of measures including careful screening processes, armed physical security, risk assessment and safety plan implementation and educating the public. Many tips to help keep federal employees safe can be universally applied to home, work and travel environments. Read More

Federal Register Notices

A key function of the Federal Register is to inform citizens of their rights and obligations. Notices range in topic from informational to details on eligibility requirements for special relief that impact nonimmigrants. ICE notices are separated out from all notices posted throughout the government. Read More

Financial and Trade Investigations

Financial investigations are essential if we are to beat the criminals at their trade. Although they are often long and complex investigations, following the money trail allows law enforcement to identify and dismantle international criminal networks, and to seize their proceeds and related assets. ICE, along with its sister agencies under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is charged with protecting the nation’s borders, which includes investigating the illicit flow of money in and out of the United States. Read More

Forensic Document Laboratory (FDL)

The Forensic Document Lab’s mission is to detect and deter domestic and international travel and identity document fraud by providing a wide variety of forensic and support services to all Department of Homeland Securitycomponents, including ICE, Customs and Border Protection, Citizenship and Immigration Services, the United States Secret Service, and the United States Coast Guard. The FDL also supports other federal, state, and local agencies, as well as foreign government law enforcement and border control entities. Read More

Fugitive Operations Program

The primary mission of the National Fugitive Operations Program is to identify, locate, apprehend, process, and remove fugitive aliens from the United States with the highest priority placed on those fugitives who have been convicted of crimes. Read More

Gangs

Under Operation Community Shield, ICE focuses its powerful enforcement tool toward a single goal: Dismantling gang organizations by targeting its members, seizing its financial assets and disrupting its criminal operations. Read More

Human Smuggling/Human Trafficking

Human smuggling and human trafficking involve bringing illegal aliens into the United States for the purpose of economic or sexual exploitation (in the case of trafficking) or for the sake of avoiding our immigration laws (in the case of human smuggling). Both are growing threats that ICE special agents strive to combat in an effort to keep our homeland secure and our borders protected. ICE is firmly committed to combating human smuggling and trafficking in all their forms. Read More

Immigration Enforcement

The Secure Border Initiative (SBI) was unveiled November 2, 2005 by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff in an effort to tackle the serious threat to national security posed when illegal immigrants cross our borders, entering the United States. This multi-year plan is aimed at securing America’s borders and reducing illegal migration. Read More

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) violations such as counterfeiting and piracy cost the U.S. billions of dollars in lost revenue. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) combats these crimes through assets and resources including the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Coordination Center), the ICE Cyber Crimes Center, and attaché offices overseas. Read More

Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 (LEOSA)

If you have questions related to the ICE LEOSA policy or you would like to obtain an application form, please email Ice.Leosa@dhs.gov.

Policies and Practical Information on Detention Facilities and Detention and Removal Field Offices

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility employees and illegal immigrant detainees will find information on detainee services and security and control procedures in the Detention Operations Manual. Information includes everything from access to legal material and funds and personal property to disciplinary policy and security inspections. Read More

Special Registration

The National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), also known as Special Registration, is for foreign nationals wishing to enter the United States on a temporary basis – such as for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work, study, or other, similar reasons. In addition to applying for a nonimmigrant visa, these foreign nationals must use this special registration system – a measure put in place after September 11, 2002, to keep track of those entering and leaving the country in order to safeguard U.S. citizens and America’s borders. Read More

T. Don Hutto Residential Facility

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) opened the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility in Taylor, Texas, in May 2006 to accommodate alien families in ICE custody. Read More

Worksite Enforcement

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) considers worksite enforcement part of an effective and ongoing effort to keep our homeland safe. ICE’s Worksite Enforcement Unit fights illegal immigration to mitigate possible threats posed by unauthorized workers employed in secure areas of our nation’s critical infrastructure. Read More

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