Can ICE Do That?

Irregular warfare (IW)

is a struggle for legitimacy and influence using indirect, asymmetric tactics (like insurgency, cyber, guerrilla warfare), rather than direct, conventional confrontation, aiming to erode an adversary's power and will by operating between peace and war to achieve strategic goals, often below the threshold of traditional armed conflict

Unconventional warfare (UW)

involves asymmetric, covert, or clandestine activities, like guerrilla tactics, sabotage, and subversion, to destabilize or coerce an enemy by supporting resistance movements or insurgencies, often avoiding direct, large-scale confrontations. It uses indirect methods, relies on local partners, and operates in the "grey zone" between peace and war, aiming to exploit vulnerabilities through indigenous forces, differing from traditional, overt warfare

 

by Adam Kushner from the NYT

Whom can Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest, and when? How many people are agents deporting? How do ICE agents feel? We asked readers for their questions about immigration and deportation. Today, The Times’s expert beat reporters answer.

Civil rights

How are the rules for ICE and Border Patrol officers different from those for local police? | Mike Bowman | Blue Bell, Pennsylvania

Shaila Dewan, who covers policing, writes:

Federal officers enforce federal laws, and local police officers enforce state and local laws. Federal officers may perform local law enforcement functions like traffic and crowd control only if state laws grant them that power (in Minnesota, for instance, they may do so only by request, and the state is not asking). But federal officers may take action against people who interfere with their operations or assault an officer. While the Border Patrol is chiefly responsible for borders and ports of entry, ICE officers enforce civil immigration laws within the country.

They don’t need warrants to apprehend people for violating those laws if they have probable cause to believe that the person is both deportable and a flight risk. They cannot enter a private space like a home without warrants but can and do go in with local officers who have them. They do not have to advise immigration detainees of their rights. Local police, on the other hand, may arrest someone on the spot if a crime has just occurred, but otherwise they need a warrant, granted by a court, to put someone in custody.

 

Does the law allow agents to detain observers who are filming them without impeding their operations? | David McKenna | Little Canada, Minnesota

Shaila continues:

The short answer is no. Though the specifics of state laws vary, filming public law enforcement activities is broadly recognized as a First Amendment right, as long as observers do not interfere. That said, it may be a right without a remedy. The Supreme Court has not squarely addressed the issue, and officers who detain someone in violation of a right that has not been “clearly established” may be immune from being sued. Meanwhile, a federal judge told agents on Friday not to retaliate against “peaceful and unobstructive” protesters and not to stop drivers who are not “forcibly obstructing” officers.

Deportation

How many people have been deported under Trump, and how does this number compare with past administrations? | Michael Frick | Palm Springs, California

Albert Sun, a graphics editor who has tracked deportations, writes:

I published an article today about this. Our best analysis is that since Jan. 20, the Trump administration has deported about 540,000 people. This is fewer than in either of the last two years of the Biden administration. But Biden-era deportations mostly came at the border, where migration has nearly stopped. Trump’s arrests target people already inside the country. The administration has removed about 230,000 of them, already more than the Biden administration did in four years.

Where is the United States sending immigrants? What share is deported to someplace besides their own country? | Gib Sims | San Francisco, California

Raj Saha, a graphics editor who has tracked deportations flows, writes:

During the second Trump administration, about 43 percent of removals have been to Mexico and 49 percent to Central and South American countries, about the same share as the previous year. Removals to all other regions, including Asia, Africa and Europe, account for the remaining 7 percent. That’s based on the best available data, which covers deportations only through the end of July. Roughly 5 percent of deportees were sent somewhere other than their country of citizenship, mainly through agreements the U.S. has with Mexico and Honduras. Fewer than two dozen removals were to African nations the U.S. paid to receive migrants: Rwanda, South Sudan, Eswatini and Ghana...

read more here