WHAT IS ICE (U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT)?

• ICE was created in 2003 by a merger between parts of the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
• It is responsible for enforcing federal laws related to border control, customs and immigration, and is the internal immigration police.
• It has more than 20,000 employees with more than 400 offices throughout the country and abroad.
• The agency has an annual budget of approximately $6 billion.
• It has activities such as: holding migrants in detention centers.
• The agency conducts immigration investigations.
• It also conducts criminal investigations throughout the country.

WHEN CAN A PERSON BE DETAINED BY ICE?

• When ICE officers raid a work site, such as a construction area or any other place where ICE believes there are people without legal status.
• When a person is accused of a crime and was detained by state authorities, or may have been stopped by the police for a traffic ticket. Here ICE can verify if this person has legal status.
• When a person enters the U.S. without inspection or illegally.

Juliana Montealegre