Washington, DC - "To the great and brave men and women of ICE, do not worry or lose your spirit. You are doing a fantastic job of keeping us safe by eradicating the worst criminal elements." ~ President Donald J. Trump
SAVE ICE: Leading Democrats in Congress have called for United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be abolished, which would grind immigration enforcement to a halt, with devastating consequences for public safety.
- Abolishing ICE would mean open borders because it would eliminate the agency responsible for removing people who enter or remain in our country illegally, including drug dealers; gang members; and child molesters, rapists, and other sex offenders.
- Calls to abolish ICE are an insult to these heroic law enforcement officers who make sacrifices every day to secure our borders, enforce our laws, and protect our safety and security.
- President Trump will protect ICE so these brave Americans can continue to do their job of protecting our communities.
REMOVING CRIMINALS: Abolishing ICE would allow dangerous criminal aliens—including violent and ruthless members of the MS-13 gang—to remain in American communities and inflict terrible harm on innocent American men, women, and children.
- During fiscal year (FY) 2017, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested more than 127,000 aliens with criminal convictions or charges.
- Criminal aliens arrested by ICE ERO in FY 2017 were responsible for:
- More than 76,000 dangerous drug offenses;
- More than 48,000 assault offenses;
- More than 11,000 weapon offenses;
- More than 5,000 sexual assault offenses;
- More than 2,000 kidnapping offenses; and
- More than 1,800 homicide offenses.
- ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) made 4,818 gang-related arrests in FY 2017.
- Abolishing ICE would mean that countless illegal aliens who pose a threat to public safety would be allowed to roam free—killing, injuring, and threatening Americans—instead of being removed from the country.
SEIZING DEADLY DRUGS: Abolishing ICE would mean more dangerous illegal drugs flowing into our communities, causing more Americans to needlessly suffer.
- ICE plays a critical role in combatting the drug crisis facing our Nation.
- ICE HSI seized more than 980,000 pounds of narcotics in FY 2017, including thousands of pounds of the deadly drugs fueling the opioid crisis.
- ICE HSI seized 2,370 pounds of fentanyl and 6,967 pounds of heroin.
- ICE HSI logged nearly 630,000 investigative hours directed toward fentanyl.
- Abolishing ICE would leave these drugs in our communities to cause more devastation.
HELPING PREVENT TERRORISM: Abolishing ICE would mean eliminating the agency that deports aliens that pose a terrorist threat to the United States.
- ICE was created in 2003 to better protect national security and public safety after 9/11 terrorists exploited immigration rules to gain entry into the United States.
- The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks found that many of the 9/11 hijackers committed visa violations.
- ICE identifies dangerous individuals before they enter our country and locates them as they violate our immigration laws.
- Abolishing ICE would enable the hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals who illegally overstay their visa each year to remain in the United States indefinitely.
