Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plays a key role in the Trump administration’s plans to crack down on illegal immigration. The agency, which began operating in 2003, is part of the Department of Homeland Security and has a budget of about $9 billion. ICE has over 20,000 employees and four directorates, including Homeland Security Investigations, Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, and Management and Administration.
Under the Trump administration, ICE’s priorities and methods are changing. The agency is continuing to carry out routine enforcement operations, but is now targeting not only criminals, but also undocumented immigrants who are with them. White House officials have said that all undocumented immigrants are considered criminals.
ICE is also shifting its focus to enforcement of immigration laws, with its Homeland Security Investigations division now tasked with enforcing immigration laws and other federal laws related to illegal entry and unlawful presence of aliens. The agency is also making a point of widely publicizing its immigration enforcement efforts, sharing regular social media updates detailing daily numbers of arrests, as well as names and images of those arrested.
The Trump administration is aiming to make at least 75 arrests a day in each of ICE’s 25 field offices, and has already made over 5,500 arrests since January 23. ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations conducted 113,431 administrative arrests in the fiscal year that ended October 2024.
The administration is also planning to ramp up partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies across the US, and to expand the military’s role in immigration enforcement. Additional active-duty troops have been deployed to the US southern border, military aircraft have been used for deportation flights, and a Space Force base in Colorado will be used to temporarily hold and process “criminal aliens.” The administration has also announced plans to prepare the US Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to house tens of thousands of migrants, with ICE overseeing the facility.
