Nearly 1,200 people were arrested by federal immigration authorities on Sunday, Jan. 26, including some in Northeast Ohio. The arrests followed President Donald Trump’s executive order “to immediately repel, repatriate, and remove illegal aliens across the southern border of the United States.”
Much of the work of carrying out that order falls to the federal agency known as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly referred to as ICE.
What is ICE?
The terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, revealed that intelligence about threats to the nation was not always shared across the various federal departments and agencies responsible for investigation and defense. In 2002, Congress passed the Homeland Security Act to bring all of this work under one roof in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The director of DHS is part of the president’s cabinet.
The act also replaced the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, which had been established in 1933, with three new agencies under DHS supervision: Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
CIS processes applications and petitions for immigration and naturalization benefits. CBP enforces immigration laws at and between ports of entry. ICE enforces immigration laws through its three operational directorates, or divisions. One of them, called Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), identifies, arrests and detains “aliens who are subject to removal or are unlawfully present in the U.S.,” according to the ICE website.
ICE has an annual budget of about $8 billion and employs 21,000 people in all 50 states and in 57 countries.
The debate over “aliens”
The word “aliens” was commonly used to describe immigrants from the 18th century until the 2010s, when advocates and academics argued that it is dehumanizing. President Joe Biden agreed, and in 2021 proposed removing it from federal legislation. But on Jan. 21, the acting DHS secretary appointed by President Donald Trump ordered that “alien” is the “proper terminology.” The word started showing up on the ICE web site two days later, according to records stored by the Wayback Machine, an internet archive.
Where and how does ICE operate?
ICE’s ERO agents can operate anywhere in the country. They cannot legally enter homes without the owner’s permission or a warrant. They can enter businesses at any time to conduct a Form I-9 audit (to confirm that the employer has verified workers’ identities and authorization to work in the United States) or a raid to arrest undocumented immigrants working there.
“ICE agents are not police officers,” according to the National Immigration Law Center, which offers general advice for employers. “But their uniforms may say ‘Police’ or ‘Federal Agent.’ They may carry guns. Sometimes local police officers or agents from other federal agencies go with ICE agents on ICE raids.”
In 2011, DHS restricted (but did not forbid) ICE operations at “sensitive locations” — schools, hospitals, places of worship, the sites of funerals, weddings or public religious ceremonies and events such as rallies or parades. In 2021, DHS expanded the list to include more medical facilities, social service agencies and “places where children gather.” The 2021 order also applied the restrictions to CPB, which can operate anywhere within 100 miles of the U.S. border.
On Jan. 21, DHS rescinded all of the restrictions. The acting secretary said, “The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”
Does ICE work with local law enforcement?
Sometimes, but it’s not required to. The City of Cleveland Heights issued a statement on Jan. 27 saying it was not warned about, nor involved in, the ICE raid at a restaurant there.
The same day, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said, “My administration will not engage in the deportation of individuals who have not committed violent crimes. No law requires that we do so.”
In 27 states (not including Ohio), some local law enforcement agencies and corrections departments work with ICE through 287(g) agreements (the name refers to the relevant section of federal law). Most of these agreements are with sheriff’s departments in southern states.
What happens to people arrested by ICE?
People arrested by ICE are taken to processing centers to be interviewed, fingerprinted and, sometimes, given the chance to call a loved one, according to the Chicago Tribune. ICE officials then decide whether to initiate the process to remove the person from the country, and, if so, whether to release them or detain them until the process is complete.
The processing centers in Ohio are the Geauga County Safety Center and the Seneca County Jail.
ICE removed more than 271,000 undocumented people in fiscal year 2024, “an increase of 90.4% compared to FY 2023 and an increase of 276.1% compared to FY 2022,” according to its annual report.