Immigration and Customs Enforcement Promotes Security in America

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Promotes Security in America

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is not only out to round up all of the illegal immigrants in America. Immigration is only one aspect of their current mission. To truly understand what ICE what their mission is you must know how they operate and what their abilities as the investigative body of the Department of Homeland Security are. As a part of Homeland Security you can say they want to promote security in America.

"Immigration and Customs mission statement is to promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade, and immigration."(ICE, 2011) This has been their mission since the creation of the agency in 2003 with a consolidation of the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. There are other departments within ICE that deal with investigations, national security and enforcement and removal of illegal aliens.

When you hear about ICE agents you think about illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants such, as Carlos Andres Suazo-Izaguirre who was arrested in Beaumont Texas in 2010, for firearm possession and theft of a firearm. He was found to have been previously deported back to Honduras. Juan Alberto Barrera-Candelaria was arrested and sent to the Panamanian Government. He was convicted of murder and later escaped. He entered the US illegally. He was arrested after investigators received an anonymous tip he was planning on attacking the metro with a rocket launcher. These are only two of the illegal aliens deported each year. Juan Alberto was one of those that were handled by both the enforcement and removal, and the national security departments of ICE.

There are ICE agents assigned to the Joint terrorism Taskforce (JTTF). These agents have played pivotal roles in investigating terror plots resulting in close to 1,400 arrests. Those arrests include the arrest of Faisal Shahzad, who failed to bomb Times Square in New York in 2010. Shahzad was just a normal guy to his neighbors. He was tracked down after the vehicle id number on the SUV he left loaded with gas and fertilizer. The JTTF agents had hoped to follow him to accomplices. They picked him up at the airport trying to flee to Dubai and then possibly back to Pakistan.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has over 20,000 employees all tasked with different jobs. The range of these jobs are varied enough to cover all aspects of the immigration control, investigation of immigrant criminals as well as possible terrorist plots against the US, border protection and customs enforcement. These agents are located in every one of the 50 states as well as in 48 different countries around the globe.

As a part of the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement,