What is ICE and how far does its power reach?

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a U.S. government agency created in 2003 whose mission is "to protect the U.S. through criminal investigations and the enforcement of immigration laws, to preserve national security and public safety," according to read on its official website. With more than 20,000 active agents, plus an unspecified number of support staff, it has more than 400 offices inside and outside the United States and constitutes the "principal law enforcement agency of the Department of Homeland Security" (DHS) to mitigate "transnational threats", protect the nation and its citizens, and control "legal immigration, trade, travel, and financial systems".

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Since the return of President Donald Trump to the White House, ICE has become the spearhead of a harsh anti-immigrant policy , which has primarily targeted, although not exclusively, undocumented migrants suspected of having committed crimes in the North American country.

Last year, its actions have included raids on workplaces, schools, bus stops, churches and hospitals; warrantless home raids, detentions of minors and even the murder of two U.S. citizens in the context of protests against the agency's actions, all of which has put the entity in the focus of public opinion, inside and outside the U.S.

What can ICE do?

As part of the federal forces, ICE officials are authorized to capture and deport people suspected of being illegal immigrants. If the detention procedure takes place in a public place, they are not obliged to present a warrant. What is required in that case is that they have evidence or a reasonable suspicion that the person they intend to apprehend has violated U.S. immigration laws.

As its scope of operation focuses on undocumented migrants, ICE does not have the authority to arrest or deport a U.S. citizen. However, some 170 people who possess that nationality have been captured irregularly in government raids, despite having shown documentation that allowed their legal status to be corroborated.

Furthermore, residents of cities like Los Angeles, with a high density of people of Latin American origin, have denounced that the operations are based on racial profiling of non-white people.

On the other hand, while US courts prohibit the intrusion of federal agents or police into a private home or business without a court order, ICE personnel often circumvent this rule by signing an internal administrative order, according to documentation leaked by Associated Press. The Justice Department has not yet defined whether the immigration control agency can maintain its policy of detentions based on reasonable suspicion for national security reasons.

Regarding the use of force, immigration agents are required to use the "minimum non-lethal force necessary" to fulfill their purpose, but they are not prohibited from using lethal force. They must reserve it for when they deem it necessary and have a "reasonable belief" that they, their colleagues, or third parties face a threat capable of endangering their lives or causing them serious injuries. Conversely, they cannot use lethal force when a suspect flees or when they only pose a danger to themselves. Regarding the video recording of raids, detentions, and the use of force by ICE, although the DHS has warned that it could constitute a crime, in the U.S. there is extensive jurisprudence that protects the right of citizens to record the actions of law enforcement agencies. In fact, this allowed public opinion to learn about the circumstances of the murder of the poet Renee Good at the hands of an ICE agent or the transfer of five-year-old Liam Ramos to an immigrant detention center in the state of Texas. Both cases generated rejection and led to both massive demonstrations and pronouncements by personalities of the American political class.