Can ICE Do That?
American Bar Association project helps make sense of immigration officers’ tactics
Trump administration officials often suggest that immigration officers have nearly limitless power. Back in January, Vice President J.D. Vance claimed that immigration officers have complete immunity.
The truth is that they do have a lot of leeway. Congress, working with multiple presidential administrations across decades, has given ICE and Border Patrol immense authority to stop, question, detain, and deport people. The courts have followed along, with the Supreme Court often setting the tone. As interpreted by the Supreme Court, the U.S. Constitution lets immigration officers do what would never pass for any other law enforcement officer: stop people without evidence, detain them without having to show that they are dangerous or likely to skip court dates, inflict life-long punishment without access to a lawyer.
Understanding what immigration officers can do – and what they can’t – is critical. Now more than ever. That’s why I teamed up with the American Bar Association’s Section on Civil Rights and Social Justice to produce a short overview of immigration law enforcement authority.