ICE was created in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks

Immigration and Customs Enforcement handles immigration enforcement within the interior of the US

ICE operates inside the United States, enforcing immigration laws through investigations, arrests, detention, and deportation of individuals residing in the country illegally. This page provides an overview of the agency's mission, structure, and internal enforcement operations.

The 2025 budget bill significantly increased ICE's budget and role in federal law enforcement

The 2025 'Big Beautiful Bill' allocated $170B to immigration and border enforcement for use through 2029. ICE's nearly $100B share includes substantial increases in detention capacity and operational scope. The increased funding will make ICE the most heavily funded federal law enforcement agency.

The Department of Homeland Security manages America's border and immigration enforcement

DHS serves as the umbrella agency managing immigration enforcement, border security, and related public safety responsibilities. Learn more about the department's budget, strategic initiatives, organizational history, and coordination of multiple agencies.

Issues of ICE conduct span multiple Republican and Democratic administrations

Complaints of abuse and harsh treatment increased as detentions and deportations of undocumented immigrants reached record levels during former President Barack Obama's first term. Frontline investigated the causes of these claims in 2011 and found that these issues cross party lines.

Sanctuary cities limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement

Sanctuary cities limit how local agencies help ICE—such as restricting detainers, jail transfers, or data sharing—while still enforcing criminal law, leaving immigration enforcement mostly to federal authorities.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency leads the US response to disasters

Established in 1979, FEMA coordinates the government's response to hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and other disasters, providing funding, logistical support, and recovery assistance. In FY 2024, the agency spent $35.1B, nearly 40% of the Department of Homeland Security's total budget.

Canine inspectors can help detect potential carriers of invasive insects

At ports of entry in the US, Customs and Border Protection agents use dogs to sniff for forbidden foods and other items that are known to harbor invasive pests. Agents also physically inspect items such as flowers to prevent entry by species that may harm US agriculture.

DACA provides temporary protection for undocumented youth brought to America as children

Created by executive order during the Obama administration, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy provides temporary deportation protection and work authorization for undocumented individuals brought to the US as children. Explore the history and ongoing political debates surrounding DACA and citizenship pathways.

Listen to Palantir CEO Alex Karp explain how ICE uses the company's services

Alex Karp is well-known for being outspoken both about his own beliefs and about the role of Palantir in protecting Western civilization. Karp has said that while supporting government institutions doesn't always mean supporting every policy or decision those institutions make, not allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to access Palantir's services would go against the company's central mission of supporting Western democracy.

Smithsonian artifacts that tell the story of 9/11 (w/photos)

Hundreds of objects linked to the attacks, from office supplies recovered at the World Trade Center to firefighters’ gear used at the Pentagon to fragments pulled from the crash site of Flight 93, reside in the national collection. Read about 31 Smithsonian artifacts that help unravel the complex story of 9/11 and its aftermath.

Created in 1862, the IRS has a scandalous history

From Al Capone's tax evasion to corruption and bribery within the IRS, the government agency has had its fair share of scandals. This article details many of them, outlining corruption that reveals this seemingly boring agency as anything but.

40% of Americans have ancestors who immigrated via Ellis Island

For over 60 years, Ellis Island was the gateway to America, processing millions of immigrants seeking a new life. While many passed through with ease, others faced rigorous medical exams, legal scrutiny, and even deportation. Learn how this small island shaped generations of American families.

The first H-1 visa was created in 1952

Congress established the original H-1 visa in 1952 through the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to let US employers temporarily hire foreign professionals of "distinguished merit and ability" when qualified American workers were unavailable—a precursor to today's H-1B program.

There may be 74,963 kinds of ice, resulting from water molecules rearranging themselves

The theoretical limit greatly expands the known types of ice, with type Iₕ being the most common on Earth and forming hexagonal crystals. The extreme environments of planets like Uranus and Neptune can create a variety of ice with unique structures and properties, as these conditions can reshape these crystals into new geometries.

America's ice cream obsession began under Prohibition

The emotional attachment to the sweet treat began during Prohibition, when many brewers started churning out ice cream instead of alcohol. Eventually, it symbolized joy during wartime and the Great Depression.

The Secret Service was originally formed to combat counterfeiting

By the 1860s, an estimated one-third of US currency in circulation was counterfeit. In 1865, the Secret Service was created specifically to combat the country's serious counterfeiting problem, which had led to widespread financial instability. This was partly due to the lack of federal currency standardization in the country at the time.

There is a secretive bomb-proof bunker located under the White House

Built in 1942 during World War II, the Presidential Emergency Operations Center lies beneath the East Wing. Designed to protect the president during air raids—and later nuclear threats—it remains a top-secret command site used during crises like 9/11.

The history of ARPANET and how it helped the US military during the Cold War

President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1958, which recruited scientists to design the first large-scale computer network to support the American military during the Cold War. Academics would use the network to communicate via email among several US research universities.

The CISA’s strategy for secure 5G

CISA, through the National Risk Management Center (NRMC), is leading risk mitigation efforts by working with government and industry partners to ensure the security and resiliency of 5G technology and infrastructure.

Research suggests AI data centers may be creating microclimate heat islands

An analysis of satellite data from 2004 to 2024 showed that land surface temperatures in the areas surrounding AI data centers typically increase by an average of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) after they begin running. Across the 6,000 global data centers analyzed by the study, temperatures increased by as much as 9.1 degrees Celsius (16.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

The US federal government employs roughly 3 million people

Tracking began in 1939, when the federal workforce consisted of about 1 million people. The total peaked in 1990 at 3.4 million, and hit a recent low in 2014 at 2.7 million.

The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 made religious liberty a formal US foreign policy priority

Congress enacted the International Religious Freedom Act to make promoting religious freedom abroad a stated goal of US foreign policy. The law established an ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom and mandated that the State Department report annually on the status of religious freedom.

FIDE has governed international chess since 1924

The Fédération Internationale des Échecs was founded in Paris in 1924 to unify global chess rules and competitions. Today, it oversees world championships, regulates ratings, and serves as the official governing body for millions of players worldwide.

Learn about the Black Bear Sports Group—a hockey conglomerate changing the ice rink industry

Ice rinks are notoriously difficult to operate, due to the complex cooling systems required to maintain the ice itself, and have an average operating lifespan of 25 years. However, Black Bear Sports Group has made millions by buying up failing ice rinks and running robust youth sports programming.

The Office of Water protects the nation's rivers, lakes and drinking supplies

The office develops national standards for safe drinking water, regulates wastewater treatment, and enforces the Clean Water Act. It partners with states and tribes to monitor pollution, protect wetlands, and restore aquatic ecosystems across the United States.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

Explore what it's like inside a patient isolation unit, used in situations such as treating a patient or suspected patient with Ebola.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

The animatronic shark from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' the first modern blockbuster, was a complex underwater apparatus called 'Bruce.'