Created in 2003 from the investigative and enforcement arms of the former INS and Customs Service. Enforcement and Removal Operations handles detention and deportation; Homeland Security Investigations works transnational crime from smuggling to child exploitation.
Open the interactive page for ICE →Created byHomeland Security Act of 2002 § 442 created the "Bureau of Border Security" (Pub. L. 107-296); renamed Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement by DHS Reorganization Plan Modification of Jan. 30, 2003 (effective Mar. 1, 2003) under 6 U.S.C. § 542
Head appointed6 U.S.C. § 113(a)(1)(G): Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; statutory qualifications (minimum 5 years professional law-enforcement experience and 5 years management experience, 6 U.S.C. § 252(a)(2)(B)); no fixed term (PAS)
Removal standardno statutory protection — at will
Funded underannual DHS Appropriations Act
Congressional oversightHouse Committee on the Judiciary (immigration enforcement law); House Committee on Homeland Security (operations oversight) · Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (Director nominations referred there); Senate Committee on the Judiciary (immigration law)
Inspector generalDHS OIG (PAS IG under the IG Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 401–424)
Judicial reviewRemoval orders reviewed only via petitions for review in the courts of appeals (8 U.S.C. § 1252); 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) bars review of decisions to "commence proceedings, adjudicate cases, or execute removal orders"; detention challenged by habeas (28 U.S.C. § 2241); APA for non-removal final actions
Vote for President, who sets ICE priorities; ask your members of Congress, who set detention funding; state and local governments decide how far their police cooperate with ICE.
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