Thanks, Starchild. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was
created after 9/11 by our fearles elected officials, and combined the
INS and Customs. If our elected officials are creating dub stuff, we
the voters just need to unelect them, right? Vote for Starchild and
Phil Berg!
For those interested, I have cut and pasted below the "About Us" from
the ICE website.
Marcy
"Created in March 2003, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is
the largest investigative branch of the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS). The agency was created after 9/11, by combining the
law enforcement arms of the former Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) and the former U.S. Customs Service, to more effectively
enforce our immigration and customs laws and to protect the United
States against terrorist attacks. ICE does this by targeting illegal
immigrants: the people, money and materials that support terrorism and
other criminal activities. ICE is a key component of the DHS "layered
defense" approach to protecting the nation.
What we stand for
Our mission is to protect America and uphold public safety. We fulfill
this mission by identifying criminal activities and eliminating
vulnerabilities that pose a threat to our nation's borders, as well as
enforcing economic, transportation and infrastructure security. By
protecting our national and border security, ICE seeks to eliminate
the potential threat of terrorist acts against the United States.
How we work
Before 9/11, immigration and customs authorities were not widely
recognized as an effective counterterrorism tool in the United States.
ICE changed this by creating a host of new systems to better address
national security threats and to detect potential terrorist activities
in the U.S. We target the people, money and materials that support
terrorist and criminal activity.
* We are the second largest federal law enforcement contributor to
the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
* We dismantle gang organizations by targeting their members,
seizing their financial assets and disrupting their criminal
operations through our Operation Community Shield.
* We investigate employers and target illegal workers who have
gained access to critical infrastructure worksites (like nuclear and
chemical plants, military installations, seaports and airports)
through our Worksite Enforcement Initiative.
* We help to identify fraudulent immigration benefit applications
and fraudulent illegal document manufacture and target violators
through our Identity and Benefit Fraud Program.
* We investigate the illegal export of U.S. munitions and
sensitive technology through our Project Shield America Initiative.
* We help combat criminal organizations that smuggle and traffic
in humans across our borders through our Human Smuggling and
Trafficking Initiative.
* We ensure that every alien who has been ordered removed departs
the U.S. as quickly as possible. We work to reduce the number of
fugitive aliens in the U.S. through our National Fugitive Operations
Program.
* We aggressively seek to destroy the financial infrastructure
that criminal organizations use to earn, move and store illicit funds
through our Cornerstone Initiative.
* We provide law enforcement and security services to more than
8,800 federal buildings that receive nearly one million visitors and
tenants daily through our Federal Protective Service.
* We play a leading role in targeting criminal organizations
responsible for producing, smuggling and distributing counterfeit
products through our National Intellectual Property Rights
Coordination Center.
* We support the law enforcement community through three units
dedicated to sharing information and providing investigative support:
the Law Enforcement Support Center, Forensic Document Laboratory, and
the Cyber Crimes Center.
We fulfill all of these roles and many others, acting with courage,
integrity and a high level of accountability while striving for
excellence in everything we do. We aspire to the highest standards of
performance, professionalism and leadership."
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