Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, has been one of the more controversial arms of the federal government for years, but the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis brought the agency to the forefront of American politics.

ICE has been at the center of President Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown since he returned to the White House in 2025. The agency’s aggressive tactics have led to unprecedented numbers of deportations, arrests and people held in detention. They’ve sparked mass protests, legal challenges and renewed calls for it to be abolished.

When major news breaks, sometimes it can be easy to feel left behind if you’re not up to date on the latest facts. To help our readers catch up, we’ve compiled answers to some of the most common questions about ICE found in search data since the shooting.

Here’s a quick primer on what ICE is, what role it plays and what the law says its agents are — and are not — allowed to do as they carry out Trump’s mass deportation agenda.

What does ICE stand for?

Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

When was ICE formed?

ICE was established in 2003 as part of the Homeland Security Act, a sprawling national security bill passed in response to the 9/11 terror attacks. That bill took a wide range of national security functions that had previously been spread out across various parts of the government and brought them all under the purview of the newly created Department of Homeland Security.

When it was formed, ICE effectively absorbed the duties of two now-defunct government agencies: the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the United States Customs Service. Though ICE itself is relatively new, the role it took over from those other agencies — enforcing immigration laws — has been carried out by various parts of the government since the nation’s founding.

What does ICE do?

ICE’s primary job is to enforce immigration laws inside the U.S. It does not typically patrol America’s borders. That job is carried out jointly by Customs and Border Protection and the Coast Guard.

The agency is split into two main divisions. The first, and by far more visible, is what it calls Enforcement and Removal Operations. This is the arm of ICE that carries out immigration raids, runs detention centers and deports people out of the U.S.

The second division conducts more complex and involved investigations into transnational crime, including drug smuggling, human trafficking, gang violence and a variety of financial crimes.

How big is ICE?

According to its website, ICE has more than 20,000 employees across 400 offices throughout the United States. Its staff includes 6,100 deportation officers, 6,500 special investigations agents, 700 intelligence analysts, 1,700 attorneys and various other support personnel.

Those figures don’t appear to include a major influx of new ICE employees that have been hired recently thanks to a $30 billion infusion of additional funding included in the massive spending bill Republicans in Congress approved last summer. ICE has been on a furious recruitment push that has brought in 12,000 new officers and employees in less than a year, the agency said. The huge influx of money, which also includes $45 billion to increase ICE’s detention capacity, will arguably make ICE the largest and best-funded federal law enforcement agency in U.S. history.

Who is in charge of ICE?

ICE’s acting director is Todd Lyons, a career ICE official and former Air Force member who oversaw the agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations before being promoted in March. Lyons took over the position from Caleb Vitello, who was demoted after less than a month on the job amid complaints from the White House about lagging deportation numbers. Lyons reports directly to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Is ICE the only agency carrying out immigration raids?

No. The Trump administration has reassigned thousands of people from other parts of federal law enforcement to support ICE’s deportation efforts, including agents from Border Patrol, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and even the Internal Revenue Service. Though ICE has become something of a blanket term for any federal agents carrying out an immigration operation, any given operation will likely involve personnel from several different agencies and possibly local or state authorities as well.

One of the most important figures in Trump’s immigration crackdown is actually a member of the Border Patrol. Greg Bovino, whom Noem has called a “commander at large” within the agency, has been spearheading immigration operations in major cities across the country. By frequently joining high-profile raids in person, Bovino has become the public face of the Trump administration’s immigration policy.

What powers does ICE have to arrest people?

As members of federal law enforcement, ICE officers have the authority to stop, detain and arrest people they believe to be in the country illegally. They need a warrant to arrest someone inside a private home or business. In public spaces, they can make arrests without a warrant, but they must have cause or reasonable suspicion to believe that the person is violating immigration laws.

Can ICE agents detain U.S. citizens?

Legally, no. By the letter of the law, ICE only has the authority to detain, arrest or deport people who are believed to be in the country illegally.

In practice, however, there are many accounts of American citizens being caught up in the administration’s raids. The news site ProPublica identified upward of 170 incidents where citizens were held by immigration authorities, including some who were detained even after showing a legal government ID.

ICE can detain citizens if they allegedly commit a crime, such as interfering with an immigration operation or assaulting officers. ProPublica’s list includes 130 people who were held for alleged infractions, though those cases “often wilted under scrutiny” and very few resulted in convictions.

Can ICE legally use force?

Yes. Federal law stipulates that immigration officers must use the “minimum non-deadly force necessary” to accomplish their mission.

The law and DHS policy both allow agents to use deadly force, but “only when necessary” and in circumstances when they have a “reasonable belief” that they or someone nearby is facing an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. They are not allowed to use deadly force to stop a fleeing subject or in cases when a suspect appears to be a threat only to themselves.

How many people has ICE deported since Trump returned to office?

Last week, ICE reported that it had conducted 622,000 deportations since the start of Trump’s second term on Jan. 20, 2025. While that’s well short of the goal of 1 million annual deportations the administration had set for itself, it’s still enough to shatter the previous annual record of 316,000 set during Barack Obama’s presidency.

Why do ICE agents wear masks?

ICE says its agents wear masks to prevent “doxing” — a term used to describe the unauthorized publication of someone’s private information, including their name, address or other personal data. ICE claims that doxing of its officers “can (and has) placed them and their families at risk.”

Federal law requires any federal immigration agent making an arrest to identify themselves as an immigration officer “as soon as it is practical and safe to do so.” That language gives the agents a certain amount of discretion to decide when identifying themselves is “practical and safe.” Immigrant rights groups argue that ICE and other immigration agents often refuse to identify themselves, or even lie about their identities, in violation of federal law.

California has passed a law banning federal law enforcement from wearing masks. Other states and cities are pursuing similar legislation. The Trump administration has sued to block California’s law.