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ICE

This blog post will be on the topic of ‘ICE’, which stands for the ‘Immigration and Customs Enforcement’ in the United States, and is one of the law enforcement agencies of the national government. ICE has been around for more than two decades, but has become more prominent in the news in recent years due to its involvement in an increasing number of controversies. In addition, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of July 2025 made ICE the largest and most well-funded law enforcement agency in the history of the United States. This blog post will focus on a few particularly significant events involving ICE since around the time the bill was signed into law.


There have been various anti-ICE protests in  the United States since the start of Trump’s second term as President in January 2025. One key example began in Los Angeles in June 2025, following ICE raids with the goal of arresting alleged illegal immigrants. The national government responded to this by deploying members of the National Guard. The mobilisation of this military reserve force has been criticised, and the Governor of California has sued the Trump administration over it. The Northern California District Court ruled in favour of the Governor, as ‘there was no rebellion, nor was civilian law enforcement unable to respond to the protests and enforce the law’. However, in a separate legal challenge regarding the ICE raids taking place to begin with, the Supreme Court overruled the Northern California District Court and deemed it legal to stop suspects based solely on their race, language or job.


‘CBP’, which stands for the ‘Customs and Border Protection’, is another one of the law enforcement agencies of the national government of the United States. In December 2025, ICE and CBP began ‘Operation Metro Surge’ with the goal of arresting alleged illegal immigrants in Minnesota. An ICE agent in the city for this purpose fatally shot an unarmed bystander, Renée Good, and the Trump administration defended this as merely an act of self defence.


The day after Good’s death on 7th January, CBP shot two unarmed alleged illegal immigrants in Oregon, and the Trump administration again claimed self defence. These events caused protests throughout the United States, and Alex Pretti attended one in Minnesota on 24th January. Although he may have been carrying a weapon when he was fatally shot, he was legally allowed to have this and was not attempting to use it. However, this did not stop the Trump administration once again claiming self defence, and this fuelled further protests which continued on into February.


ICE is clearly very controversial, and United States citizens are concerned by its actions. Moving forward, measures need to be taken to ensure that no more innocent people are harmed.


Please see the following news articles for more information on the topics covered in this blog post:

 
 
 

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