Immigration Enforcement

Immigration Enforcement is the federal government’s authority to identify, arrest, and remove individuals without legal status in the United States.[1][2] Primary responsibility falls to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security.[2] ICE enforces more than 400 federal statutes and operates with a staff of over 20,000 across 400+ global offices.[3] The agency’s two primary components are Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which focuses on transnational crime, and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), which handles apprehension, detention, and deportation of undocumented immigrants.[2]

How Immigration Enforcement Operates

Immigration enforcement includes locating, arresting, detaining, and removing non-U.S. citizens who violate immigration laws.[1] Most enforcement activities fall under four main categories: border patrol, inspections, investigations, and detention and removal.[1] Customs and Border Protection (CBP) handles enforcement at and between ports of entry, while ICE enforces immigration laws within the country’s interior.[1] State and local law enforcement officers can be authorized to perform immigration enforcement functions under the 287(g) program, which allows them to question immigration status, arrest violators, and detain individuals to provide ICE time to take them into custody.[5]

Detention Authority

ICE has discretionary authority to detain people awaiting removal decisions but can choose to release them on bond or under supervision if they are not considered flight or security risks.[3] Mandatory detention applies to unauthorized immigrants who have committed serious crimes, such as those involving terrorism or crimes of moral turpitude.[3] ICE can also assign detainees to supervised release programs with technological monitoring like GPS tracking, allowing people to remain in their homes while awaiting status decisions.[3]