Though the history and culture of the U.S. is rooted in immigration, national security should still be at the top of the priority list, for the sake of all Americans, naturalized or immigrant. Agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have the duty as enforcers of the law and protectors of the country to enforce immigration laws and policies that may be unpopular to some, but are necessary overall. However, the line between enforcing the law and keeping families and livelihoods together is difficult to draw, and the topic of what it truly means to protect national security will always be a subject of debate. Despite this, I believe there are positives to ICE’s existence and mission, not just negatives.

The events of Sept. 11, 2001 fundamentally changed American national security measures. At the time, there was no Transportation Security Administration to check every individual who entered airports, nor was there a central organization entirely dedicated to preventing domestic and international attacks on the national security of the U.S. and its citizens.

To prevent such events from occurring again, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was formed on Nov. 25, 2002, with its mission being “to prevent future attacks against the United States and our allies, responding decisively to natural and man-made disasters, and advancing American prosperity and economic security long into the future.”

This new Department consolidated 22 different departments into 14, which includes ICE. American immigration laws help keep unwanted individuals who plan to cause harm to others out of the country, but those laws have little value without active enforcement. The creation of the DHS helped make communication more efficient, keeping all agencies up to date on information regarding organizations or individuals who may pose a threat to American national security.

ICE is in charge of two main tasks: Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), and Combating Transnational Crime. The former, ERO, is what captures the attention of the public, and more impactfully the national media, the most often. 

Some individuals who have entered or remain in the U.S. illegally choose not to return to their previous country, whether it be because they are involved in criminal activity, or they do not wish to leave despite breaking immigration laws and essentially bypassing the entire naturalization process put in place by Citizenship and Immigration Services. When this happens, ICE has the authority to go to their location of residence and place them under arrest. This is the basic process of ERO. Under Title Eight, Chapter 12, Section 1227 of the U.S. Code, illegal immigrants can then be removed from the U.S. because they are within one of the stated groups that classifies them as removable, which includes gang members and criminal noncitizens.

Public opposition to ICE’s locating and detaining of illegal immigrants intensified in 2018, halfway through President Trump’s term. Since then, the movement has grown, with organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee making demands for the agency to be abolished entirely, and for its nearly $8 billion annual budget to be reallocated to other programs such as social services and infrastructure. 

“The very mission of ICE is at odds with values we hold dear—like treating all people with dignity and respect. An agency that was created to tear apart communities and was founded on the belief that mass deportations make our country safer cannot be reformed,” said the AFSC website.

The statement that ICE is responsible for causing separation of immigrant families in the U.S holds truth. In 2018, the “zero tolerance policy” was publicly announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. While the new policy of immigration law enforcement was justifiable in its enactment, as it meant to curb the massive 203% increase in illegal immigration from Feb. to Mar. 2018 at the southern border between Mexico and the U.S., it also separated thousands of immigrant children from their parents. 

“Illegally entering this country will not be rewarded, but will instead be met with the full prosecutorial powers of the Department of Justice,” said Sessions.

After President Biden entered office in January, the Department of Justice rescinded this policy, with the new President working to dismantle his predecessor’s immigration policies.

The American public has largely only seen the work of ICE through what is broadcast through the national media, or through the personal opinions of communities who have been impacted by the agency. This, in turn, has skewed the public perception of what ICE does on a larger scale, though only about 1 out of 4 participants in a poll held by Politico believe the agency should be abolished. In addition, many fail to realize that ICE is one of the cornerstones of protecting national security. 

Like the DHS as a whole, ICE has multiple sub departments, including Homeland Security Investigation (HSI), which is tasked with tracking national security threats such as narcotics and human smuggling, cybercrime, and illegal importation of technology and weapons. By also working with organizations internationally, HSI can stop threats to American security before they ever reach its shores, and complex terrorist or smuggling systems can be dismantled both domestically and internationally at the same time. Without components such as HSI, America’s national security would have far more and larger holes to allow human traffickers, drug dealers, or terrorists to enter the U.S. without confrontation. 

However, HSI doesn’t deal with the direct deportation or court cases of immigrants, which is carried out by ERO. It largely deals with preventing and combating threats before they gain traction, and tracking down and arresting individuals who are already located in the U.S. As such, the idea of “abolishing ICE” tends to group the agency’s members into a specific aspect of ICE’s overall mission that many aren’t directly involved in.

One good example of HSI’s efforts at the national level is Operation Stolen Promise. With the coronavirus pandemic causing many businesses to struggle due to lack of employees, the Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) sought to help employers get the support they needed to keep their businesses open. However, while this plan helped save thousands of businesses, it was also abused by some to conduct fraud operations. HSI, in cooperation with other federal agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as local banks and other agencies, has worked to combat criminal activity related to abusing the financial plans meant to support people during the pandemic. This includes falsely applying to be eligible for the PPP, and shipments of prohibited pharmaceuticals and medical equipment from entering the U.S.

ICE, as well as all of the DHS’ departments, were created to take on the massive task of keeping the over 329 million people in the U.S. safe from threats both within their country and beyond its borders. As such, the agency’s ability to enforce immigration laws and detain those who have broken them are vital to protecting the values and lifestyle that comprise the American dream.

Photo Courtesy of UNSPLASH.COM