What is ICE? Immigration agents' role explained
ICE raids in full effect in New Jersey
Federal immigration agents detained several workers, including a U.S. military veteran, at a Newark, New Jersey, fish market on Thursday, local advocates and officials tell FOX 5 NY. LiveNOW from FOX host Jeane Franseen spoke to FOX 5 NY reporter, Briella Tomassetti on the latest.
WASHINGTON - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has become a focal point for President Donald Trump as he forges ahead with plans to crackdown on illegal immigration.
Less than a week into his presidency, the Trump administration touted deportation efforts and published new rules Friday making it easier to remove people — part of a flurry of actions to make good on campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration. Amid officials’ latest show of force, waves of worry reverberated in parts of the country, with officials in Newark, New Jersey, lashing out over what they called illegal arrests by immigration agents.
President Donald Trump's administration portrayed U.S. military planes carrying migrants that touched down in Central America as a start to deportations and announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement made 593 arrests on Friday and 538 on Thursday. He also sent U.S. soldiers and Marines to the U.S.-Mexico border and lifted longtime rules restricting immigration enforcement near schools and churches.
RELATED: Secret Service mistaken for ICE during visit to Chicago elementary school
Many of the ICE actions were not unusual. Similar deportation flights also took place under the Biden administration, though not using military planes.
What is ICE?
ICE is the main government agency responsible for removing people from the country illegally.
ICE averaged 311 daily arrests in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
NYC prepares for President Trump's deportation plans
As President Donald Trump begins rolling out plans for potentially the "largest deportation program" in U.S. history, New York City is bracing for possible immigration raids. And if mass deportation happened in the Big Apple, what would it look like? Does the city have a plan for its thousands of migrants? LiveNOW's Christina Evans spoke about the preparations with FOX 5 NY reporter Stephanie Bertini.
According to the agency's website, ICE contains more than 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel in more than 400 offices in the United States and around the world. The agency also has an annual budget of approximately $8 billion.
RELATED: ICE raid at Newark, NJ fish market was not part of mass deportation plan: Sources
As of now, Caleb Vitello is the Acting Director of the agency.
History of ICE
The agency is relatively young, although its function has been carried out in some form of fashion by more than 200 years.
The agency was formed under the Homeland Security Act., stemming from the acts of 9/11.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 6: An ICE agent monitors hundreds of asylum seekers being processed upon entering the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on June 6, 2023 in New York City. New York City has provided sanctuary to over 46,000 asylum seekers sinc
"ICE's primary mission is to promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration," the website says.
ICE and deportations
ICE deported more than 270,000 people over a recent 12-month period, the highest annual tally in a decade, the agency said in a recent report. But it also said it made fewer arrests of noncitizens, in part because of the demand of sending staff to the border. Of those arrested, a greater proportion had serious criminal histories.
RELATED: 'Deportation flights have begun' as Trump sends 'strong and clear message,' White House says
Some cities and states work with ICE to turn over people in their custody who aren’t U.S. citizens.
But many left-leaning states and cities have so-called sanctuary policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. In New York City, for example, ICE used to have an office at the jail to easily take custody of noncitizens. In 2014, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio signed legislation kicking out ICE and restricting police cooperation.
The Source: The Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in this story also came from a combination of official statements from the Trump administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reports, and ICE’s official website. This story was reported from Los Angeles.