00:02We will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens
00:08back to the places from which they came.
00:15If we find an illegal alien there, they're coming.
00:18We're not going to turn a blind eye to illegal immigration.
00:20My city is being terrorized.
00:23ICE is doing a good thing.
00:25They are getting rid of criminals.
00:27That's all there is to it.
00:28They should feel safe at their schools.
00:32Our officers and agents are increasingly facing aggressive interference and intimidation
00:36when executing the laws that you have asked them to enforce.
00:43ICE operations are a hot topic, no matter your politics.
00:46Cracking down on immigration, a high priority for the right.
00:49Nothing has changed for how they operate.
00:51Going out there and making sure they're detaining people that are here illegally
00:56that have committed criminal activities and that need to be removed from our country.
01:00The mass expansion of enforcement and tactics, a concern on the left.
01:04This should be of deep concern for you, no matter what town you're in in America, because your town could
01:10be next.
01:10Your liberties, your freedoms could be sacrificed because of what this administration is doing.
01:16But as this agency dominates headlines, what do you really know about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement?
01:23After the terror attacks on 9-11, President George W. Bush created ICE with the Homeland Security Act.
01:30The deliberate and deadly attacks which were carried out yesterday against our country were more than acts of terror.
01:39They were acts of war.
01:41This will require a country to unite in steadfast determination and resolve.
01:47The Bush administration split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into three agencies under the Department of Homeland Security.
01:55ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
02:01This combined federal security efforts into one department to prevent future terrorist attacks and protect Americans from a wide range
02:09of threats.
02:10For five years, Bush worked to expand ICE's partnerships with local law enforcement, including under the 287-G program,
02:18which deputizes local police for immigration actions.
02:22About two million unauthorized immigrants are deported under Bush, two-thirds coming from deeper inside America rather than along the
02:30border.
02:31Another eight million immigrants returned home on their own.
02:35President Barack Obama inherited an enforcement mechanism in ICE that was far stronger than what his predecessors had.
02:42His administration deported more immigrants than any previous presidencies.
02:47He was criticized over due process concerns, with one report saying 75% of people deported didn't see a judge.
02:55The ACLU and others called him Deporter-in-Chief.
03:00Why did you deport two million people?
03:02They called you Deporter-in-Chief.
03:05You called me Deporter-in-Chief.
03:07I did not.
03:08In the later years of his presidency, Obama narrowed his focus on targeting people who pose national security threats
03:14or had committed serious crimes.
03:17In his last year in office, more than 90% of removals inside the country were non-citizens with serious
03:24convictions.
03:25At the same time, he created programs like DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,
03:32allowing people who were brought to the U.S. as kids to stay and work legally, even without legal immigration
03:38status.
03:38The lawful permanent residence program helped parents of DACA recipients avoid deportation.
03:44The Constitution of the United States.
03:47So help me God.
03:48So help me God.
03:49Congratulations.
03:53When President Donald Trump took office for the first time, he expanded ICE's role even more,
03:59launching a massive interior operation through executive order his first week.
04:04He refocused ICE on all unauthorized immigrants, not just those with criminal records.
04:10By 2018, the Department of Justice adopted a zero-tolerance policy,
04:15prosecuting all adults who crossed the border unlawfully, with no exceptions for asylum seekers or people with children.
04:23This policy led to thousands of children getting separated from their parents in Trump's first term.
04:29Stay loud! Stay clear! Immigrants are welcome here!
04:33Hundreds of people not knowing if they're going to go to work, if they have to go back to their
04:38countries,
04:39leaving behind families, jobs, friends, communities will be lost.
04:45Trump also attempted to end DACA, but the Supreme Court ruled against his administration.
04:51While ICE's enforcement targets grew to include all unauthorized immigrants,
04:55more pinpointed programs, like Operation Matador, went after alleged MS-13 gang members.
05:02In 2018, it announced 475 arrests, nearly half of those with criminal records,
05:08though later reports criticized the op for sweeping up unrelated high schoolers.
05:13So help me God.
05:14Congratulations, Mr. President.
05:17When President Joe Biden took office, he immediately directed DHS to go back to prioritizing criminals and threats to national
05:25security,
05:26saying limited resources keep them from going after any and all immigration violations.
05:31The American Immigration Council later found ICE still repeatedly arrested and removed people who didn't fall under categories listed in
05:40Biden's enforcement memos.
05:41Many of his policies were met with mixed reaction.
05:44His family expedited removal management program, touted as being a more humane way to process asylum seekers,
05:51was criticized for being too fast to be fair.
05:55And as unauthorized crossing surged, Biden was accused of having an open border policy.
06:00So help me God.
06:02So help me God.
06:03Congratulations.
06:06As Trump returned to office in 2025, his second administration increased ICE's scope with the nationwide immigration crackdown.
06:14With more than 600,000 deportations in 2025 alone, another 2.2 million self deported.
06:22Donald Trump has got to go.
06:24Hey, hey.
06:25Ho, ho.
06:26The agency is also expanding its detention center footprint.
06:30Planning first started in the last year of Biden's presidency, but the numbers and need are growing under Trump.
06:36The number of people in ICE detention increased more than 70%, from 41,000 to nearly 71,000 in Trump's
06:45first year back.
06:46And in 2025, roughly 29 people died in ICE's custody.
06:51That's the highest number since 32 deaths were reported in 2004.
06:56In fiscal year 2004, ICE's budget was $2.8 billion.
07:01By 2024, funding reached $9.8 billion.
07:05But in 2025, Trump's one big beautiful bill act gave ICE another $75 billion to spend over four years.
07:14This is on top of its annual funding of roughly $10 billion.
07:24Controversial policies, such as using administrative warrants to enter homes or arrest non-targeted individuals, draw legal scrutiny.
07:34With critics arguing ICE has overstepped constitutional boundaries.
07:38More local law enforcement partners with ICE, from 135 agencies in 2024 to more than 1,000 by January of
07:472026.
07:49ICE was created to meet the nation's need to enforce immigration policy.
07:53While its core mission is defined by law, how aggressively it enforces that law depends on who sits in the
08:00Oval Office and how Congress and the courts exercise oversight.
08:05The version of ICE we see today might not look the same 10 years from now.
08:09Presidents, lawmakers and judges all play a role in shaping how much power it has and how that power is
08:17used.
08:18For Straight Arrow News, I'm Sarah Peters.
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