Overview
Throughout the year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protects America from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety. Our mission is accomplished by the people of ICE working together and by adhering to our values of integrity, courage and excellence. The following Year in Review is a snapshot of ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Management and Administration’s (M&A) daily work.
Here is a look at the top ERO, HSI and M&A stories, as determined by overall views by visitors to ICE.gov during the year.
Top Images of 2018
These photographs are images that best represent the mission of ICE and the hard work of ICE employees throughout 2018.
Homeland Security Investigations arrested nearly 150 employees of a Salem, Ohio, meatpacking plant for immigration violations on June 19.
To help combat the many and varied crimes associated with Transnational Criminal Organizations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) established its 58th “BEST” task force in the United States, and its eighth in Texas.
ICE officers assigned to an Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Fugitive Operations team in Fort Myers, FL conduct a pre-dawn mission briefprior to conducting a targeted enforcement operation in search of a confirmed MS-13 gang member. During the operation the ERO officers were joined by special agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) as well as agents and officers from Customs andBorder Protection (CBP) and the United States Marshalls.
Deportation officers assigned to ERO Dallas conducted tryouts during three days in late September to create the office’s first Special Response Team (SRT).
Top Stories of 2018
A look at the top ERO, HSI and M&A stories, as determined by overall views by visitors to ICE.gov during the year.
Joint Operation nets 24 transnational gang members, 475 total arrests under Operation Matador
Operation Matador, operating under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Transnational Organized Crime Initiative (DHS TOCI), was launched by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York along with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
ICE removes Salvadoran MS-13 affiliate, Irish national with manslaughter conviction
ERO officers removed Frank Adonay Gonzalez Valdez, an El Salvadoran national with MS-13 affiliations, June 15 and transferred him to the custody of El Salvadoran law enforcement authorities upon his arrival in his home country.
ICE Dallas deports Nigerian who had his US citizenship revoked after sexually abusing a 7-year-old before he was naturalized
Deportation officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) removed Emmanuel Olugbenga Omopariola, 61, to Nigeria May 24.
ICE arrests 364 criminal aliens and immigration violators in 30-day enforcement surge in 6 Midwestern states
During this operation, ERO deportation officers made arrests in the following states: Illinois (134), Indiana (52), Kansas (43), Kentucky (60), Missouri (42) and Wisconsin (33). Of the 364 arrested, 187 had criminal convictions. Eighteen women and 346 men were arrested.
Former Nazi labor camp guard Jakiw Palij removed to Germany
Jakiw Palij, a former Nazi labor camp guard in German-occupied Poland and a postwar resident of Queens, New York, has been removed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to Germany. ICE removed Palij based onan order of removal obtained by the Department of Justice in 2004.
ICE HSI New York operation leads to arrests of 3 dozen Darknet vendors selling illicit goods, weapons, and drugs
Special Agents of HSI New York, in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, posed as a money launderer on Darknet market sites, exchanging U.S. currency for virtual currency.
ICE delivers more than 5,200 I-9 audit notices to businesses across the US in 2-phase nationwide operation
From July 16 to 20, the second phase of the operation, HSI served 2,738 NOIs and made 32 arrests.
Louisiana legislature honors ICE and its partners as part of Public Service Recognition Week
As part of national Public Service Recognition Week, the Louisiana House of Representatives honored U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thursday with a House Resolution commending an ICE Homeland Security Investigations task force in Louisiana for its efforts fighting human trafficking and other cross border criminal activity throughout the state.
HSI El Paso, Border Patrol agents arrest 18 alien smugglers, 117 illegal aliens; seize cash, vehicles, drugs
Special agents assigned to HSI El Paso’s human smuggling group and Border Patrol agents, who are part of HSI’s Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST), worked together to identify, locate and arrest smugglers operating alien smuggling organizations in southern New Mexico and the El Paso area.
More than 2 dozen arrested in NYC following a wiretap investigation
32 individuals were arrested in New York City, Massachusetts, Georgia and Florida. An indictment filed by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor (SNP) forthe City of New York followed a long-term wiretap investigation by HSI and NYPD's Narcotics Borough Manhattan South, Gang Squad Manhattan South and Vice Squad.