Department of Homeland Security

In 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security described assaults on ICE officers as including hitting, spitting, kicking, biting, vehicle ramming, gunfire, and Molotov cocktail attacks.

The Department of Homeland Security reported that the population of detainees held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reached nearly 66,000 in 2025.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported 238 assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from January 21 through November 21, 2025, compared with 19 assaults during January 21 through November 21, 2024, representing an increase of over 1,150%.

Federal immigration enforcement agencies identify targets that include people living in the United States without legal permission and individuals alleged to have criminal records.

The U.S. Border Patrol, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, conducts interior immigration enforcement operations away from the U.S.–Mexico border.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security conducts targeted immigration enforcement crackdowns in multiple U.S. cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles.

U.S. Border Patrol, as a component of DHS, leads or participates in immigration enforcement operations that involve deploying teams to conduct searches and arrests in U.S. neighborhoods.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the federal agency that oversees U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported in 2025 an 8,000% increase in death threats targeting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

Under those local rules, government employees, including Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security personnel, who make statements that have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing a criminal prosecution may be subject to sanctions.

Discrepancies between initial official accounts and later evidence (for example, police body-camera footage) have occurred in some immigration enforcement incidents and have prompted protests, lawsuits, and calls for further investigation.

The U.S. Department of State can revoke a foreign national's visa, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can detain noncitizens found to be unlawfully present and place them into immigration removal proceedings.

The Department of Homeland Security's use-of-force policy permits use of force only when no reasonably effective, safe, and feasible alternative appears to exist and when the force is objectively reasonable under the circumstances.

Individuals appointed as immigration judges commonly have varied professional backgrounds, including prior work in the Department of Homeland Security, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, Immigration and Customs Enforcement's legal branch, asylum officer roles, immigrant-defense nonprofits, private legal practice, or military legal service; some appointees have had no prior immigration-law experience.

A federal government shutdown, by causing lapses in appropriations, can limit federal agencies' ability to litigate or continue litigation, and courts may grant stays or pauses in proceedings at the government's request until appropriations are restored by Congress.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducts targeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operations focused on criminal activity related to the sale of counterfeit goods.

Federal homeland security and emergency management grants to states, tribes, and territories are used to fund salaries, training, vehicles, communications equipment, and software for emergency preparedness and response.

E-Verify is a federal electronic system used by employers and some government agencies to verify an individual's authorization to work in the United States by checking Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration records.

Department of Homeland Security data cited in 2025 indicate that more than 20,000 educators were in the United States on H-1B visas, making education the third-most common occupation group in the H-1B program.

U.S. federal immigration enforcement agents, including U.S. Border Patrol, have used crowd-control measures such as tear gas, pepper pellets, and rubber bullets during operations in urban residential neighborhoods.

The Congressional Budget Office in 2025 said the administration could use mandatory funding provided in the 2025 reconciliation act or other sources of mandatory funding to continue activities financed by direct appropriations at federal agencies, and that some Department of Defense funds could be used to pay active-duty personnel during a shutdown, thereby reducing the number of excepted workers who would receive delayed compensation; the CBO cited the Department of Defense, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of Management and Budget as agencies that received specific funds under the law.

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security during peacetime.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that aims to reduce threats to U.S. cyber and physical infrastructure.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operates immigrant processing centers and other enforcement facilities in U.S. cities.

Federal agencies can acquire or operate local buildings in U.S. cities for immigration enforcement activities and may implement hardened security measures at federal facilities to protect personnel and property.

The Federal Protective Service (FPS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that is tasked with protecting federal facilities and federal personnel nationwide.

The Department of Homeland Security includes congressionally mandated oversight offices such as the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman and the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

DHS oversight offices responsible for immigration detention commonly conduct regular visits to detention centers, review and investigate complaints about detention conditions, and prepare reports to Congress.

Congressional mandates assign DHS oversight offices responsibility for addressing detainee needs such as ensuring access to necessary medication, accommodating culturally appropriate diets, and handling complaints about solitary confinement, sexual assault, and issues involving infants in detention.

Reductions in staffing of internal oversight offices can reduce the government's internal capacity to monitor detention conditions and investigate complaints about civil rights and treatment in detention.

In 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched a $30 billion initiative to hire approximately 10,000 additional deportation officers.

Aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft is a federal crime according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

U.S. Border Patrol agents recorded nearly 238,000 apprehensions of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in fiscal year 2025 (Oct. 1, 2024–Sept. 30, 2025).

A 2025 Gallup poll found that 74% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters approved of the Department of Defense and 73% approved of the Department of Homeland Security.

In August 2025, Department of Homeland Security leadership cited a greater-than-1,000% increase in assaults on immigration law enforcement officers.

In 2025, the Department of Homeland Security used social media recruitment campaigns featuring traditional American imagery to promote ICE positions and reported that its social media outlets outpaced CNN and MSNBC in viewership and impressions over the summer.

Kristi Noem was serving as United States Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as of 2025-06-12.

The Department of Homeland Security is commonly abbreviated as DHS.

Voter-roll audits and investigations commonly use cross-checks against records such as state motor vehicle agency records, the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, Social Security Administration records, and federal jury pool data.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported that in fiscal year 2024 there were approximately 330,000 ICE removals and approximately 447,600 CBP returns.

Voluntary household survey estimates of the foreign‑born population are not typically used as a metric for deportations and are not included in historical Department of Homeland Security deportation statistics databases.

In 2015 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began systematically collecting data on visa overstays.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal agency within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for immigration enforcement, detention, and removal operations in the United States.

Operation Midway Blitz is an enforcement operation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that the Department of Homeland Security describes as aimed at protecting American communities from crime the agencies associate with sanctuary policies.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) conduct enforcement operations that target noncitizens with criminal convictions, including offenses such as drug trafficking, unlawful re-entry, driving under the influence, and violent offenses.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is an agency that operates under the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Federal law enforcement agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) commonly coordinate operations with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for enforcement activities.

Reassigning FBI agents to support immigration enforcement operations can divert personnel from other FBI priorities such as counterterrorism and national security, a practice that has drawn criticism.

Withholding of removal is an immigration protection that bars the Department of Homeland Security from removing an individual to a country where the individual is likely to face persecution.

Operation Midway Blitz is a named federal immigration enforcement operation that targets undocumented immigrants residing in Illinois.

A U.S. House resolution introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna urges the Department of Homeland Security to require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel to wear body cameras, display visible identification, and refrain from wearing facial coverings except in cases of immediate safety threats.

United States federal agencies, including the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, use programs and automated tools (including artificial intelligence) to monitor visa holders' social media and identify posts expressing specific viewpoints such as criticism of the U.S. government and Israel.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated that Mexican gangs have offered bounties of up to $50,000 for the assassination of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the United States.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other Department of Homeland Security components procure private‑sector surveillance technologies including facial recognition algorithms, iris‑based biometric identification systems that promise real‑time identification from eye photos, remote smartphone data extraction software, and platforms that integrate real‑time smartphone location data.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may require all non-U.S. citizens ('aliens') to be photographed when entering or exiting the United States as part of DHS regulations governing entry and exit processes.

DHS regulations may require non-exempt non-U.S. citizens to provide other biometrics in addition to photographs as part of entry-exit screening.

DHS amended regulations to remove port limitations and permit collection of biometrics from non-U.S. citizens departing from airports, land ports, seaports, or any other authorized point of departure.

DHS removed age-based exemptions for facial biometric collection for populations under 14 and over 79 in CBP's facial comparison-based entry-exit program, while maintaining that age-based exemptions continue to apply to biometrics other than facial images.

The abbreviation DHS in the article refers to the Department of Homeland Security.

Investigators have tracked threatening phone calls and social media posts that target immigration enforcement officers and their families across multiple U.S. states (for example, Texas and Washington).

Department of Homeland Security policy authorizes use of force only when no reasonably effective, safe, and feasible alternative appears to exist.

Some federal grant conditions have required recipient jurisdictions to certify that they do not have programs that advance or promote DEI, DEIA, or what is described as 'discriminatory equity ideology'.

Operation Charlotte’s Web is a Department of Homeland Security mission aimed at arresting people who have criminal immigration warrants.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency within the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has used civil monetary penalties as a tool to encourage noncitizens who remain in the country unlawfully to depart.

A civil penalty amount of $998 per day can be applied to an individual for unlawful presence, which accumulates to roughly $1.8 million when assessed continuously over five years.

Civil immigration fines may be enforced through collection measures such as wage garnishment and seizure of vehicles or real property to recover assessed amounts.

Local and state elected officials and governments sometimes use political statements or legal actions to resist, obstruct, or limit federal immigration enforcement operations conducted by DHS components such as ICE and CBP.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).