What is ICE?
ICE stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and has grown significantly under the Trump administration and no longer focuses on just criminal illegal immigrants. ICE's job is to detain and arrest people they suspect have come to the U.S illegally. ICE was formed in 2002 after the terrorist attacks in 2001 on 9/11. Initially, ICE was supposed to be a system to deport criminal illegal immigrants to keep the U.S safe, however, Trump has expanded this to deport legal immigrants and use racial profiling to stop people and check their status.
Why is ICE bad and who does it target?
ICE agents abuse their power and detain people they suspect as immigrants without warrants. ICE agents target Latino communities and anyone who looks of Mexican descent. Examples of how ICE agents inappropriately abused their power are, detaining legal U.S. citizens, opening fire on protestors and people they are detaining, waiting outside of schools, deporting children and separating families, sending people to detention camps with abusive environments, and going door to door asking to see proof of citizenship. ICE agents are violating a number of constitutional amendments; it is important you know these for yourself in case you come in contact with an ICE agent.
What can we do to help?
There are many ways you can help, aside from protests which could put you in a dangerous situation. If you protest, make sure to do so safely with a group of people and do not interact with ICE agents if they are near.
Ways to help are:
- Educating yourself and others about our immigration laws
- Signing petitions
- Donating to organizations
- Sending a message to your member of Congress
- Spreading awareness
- Recording and documenting information if you see an ICE officer detaining someone
- Boycotting companies who support ICE
Additional resources
If you wish to learn more about ICE, here are some trustworthy and unbiased sources to check out.
NPR news
BBC news
Associated Press
The Atlantic
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