In light of recent United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in the country, there has been debate over whether ICE’s actions are lawful. After the shooting of Renee Good, along with the death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, people were left wondering what ICE’s purpose is. ICE was created as a response to the terrorist attacks on 9/11 as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 by the Bush administration.
According to the ICE website, their key tasks are to “launch and pursue investigations into transnational crime and violations of the customs and immigration laws of the United States,” and to combat “child exploitation, human trafficking, financial fraud and scams and other crimes against vulnerable populations.” Essentially, their purpose is to enforce customs and immigration laws and investigate crimes of exploitation. ICE operates under federal authority largely derived from the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
Does ICE need a warrant to make an arrest?
Under 8 USC §1357(a)(2), immigration officers have the ability to arrest any person without a warrant so long as they have good reason if they have “reason to believe that the alien so arrested is in the United States in violation of any such law or regulation and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained for his arrest.”
The type of warrant mentioned is an administrative warrant rather than a judicial warrant. This warrant does not need to be signed by a judge, but by an ICE official. On the website, they distinguish that “ICE does not need judicial warrants to make arrests.” Without a warrant, “ICE officers and agents can initiate consensual encounters and speak with people, briefly detain aliens when they have reasonable suspicion that the aliens are illegally present in the United States, and arrest people they believe are illegal aliens.” They can also “detain and search people crossing the border.”
Where does ICE operate?
8 USC §1357(a)(3) explains where ICE has the ability to operate.
“[Immigration officers can operate] within a reasonable distance from any external boundary of the United States, to board and search for aliens any vessel within the territorial waters of the United States and any railway car, aircraft, conveyance, or vehicle, and within a distance of twenty-five miles from any such external boundary to have access to private lands, but not dwellings, for the purpose of patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States.”
The agency also operates at home, abroad, and online to combat transnational crime, which helps to explain ICE’s recent presence at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
It is important to note that as previously mentioned, ICE does not need a criminal or civil warrant to conduct any inspection or arrest within these boundaries.
What does ICE investigate?
ICE’s mandates are diverse and wide-ranging as they go far beyond border and immigration affairs.
ICE conducts “federal criminal investigations into the illegal movement of people, goods, money, contraband, weapons and sensitive technology into, out of and through the United States.”
A major type of ICE investigation is also into crimes of exploitation, as stated on their website.
“We also play a crucial role in investigating crimes of exploitation. This includes combating child exploitation, human trafficking, financial fraud and scams and other crimes against vulnerable populations.”
ICE’s broad reach can be seen in their explanation of investigating “the most sophisticated criminal networks that operate globally and pose the greatest threat to our security.
What are ICE’s relations with state and local law?
According to 8 USC §1357(g)(1) ICE can enter written agreements with state or local governments to allow local officers “who [are] determined by the Attorney General to be qualified to perform a function of an immigration officer.”
This allows local law enforcement officers to become deputies of ICE at any moment. These officers must also be trained and certified by ICE.
According to 8 USC §1357(g)(3), officers are also “subject to the direction and subversion of the Attorney General.”
These provisions become murky under the Constitution, as using local police to perform federal tasks can be seen as violating the Tenth Amendment’s protection against federal commandeering of state resources. This is why, through 2025-2026, Maryland and other states have passed legislation to combat deputization.
As for their interactions with these local officers, ICE frequently issues detainees to local jails, requesting that they hold an individual for up to 38 hours after their release date so that ICE can take custody.
What are the limits on ICE?
While ICE can access private land near the border, 8 USC §1357(a)(3) excludes dwellings, as in places of residency, from warrantless access.
Additionally, ICE officers may not enter the premises of a “farm or other outdoor agricultural operation” without a warrant.
ICE is also unable to overstep an individual’s Fifth Amendment right of due process when detained.
As described above, states can take legislative action against ICE to prevent deputization and limit its reach.
Phrases used in documents backing ICE, like “reasonable suspicion,” have been more clearly defined through cases like United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, which ruled that stops based solely on ancestry or race are unconstitutional. People under the custody of ICE also have the right to file a petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus in court which requires the government to justify the reasons for one’s detention before a judge.
