ICE agents are federal law enforcement officers with broad arrest authority under federal law (e.g., 8 U.S.C. § 1357 and 18 U.S.C. § 3056 for certain crimes). They can make arrests for:
- Immigration violations
- Crimes committed in their presence while carrying out their official duties. Obstruction of justice, resisting arrest, assault on a federal officer, interfering with federal officers
- any federal crimes they discover in the scope of their normal work. Common are contraband smuggling, human trafficking, drug trafficking, document fraud.
18 U.S.C. § 111 – Assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, or interfering with federal officers while they are engaged in official duties.
18 U.S.C. § 1505 – Obstructing proceedings before federal agencies.
State-level crimes – ICE will make citizen’s arrests then coordinate with local police to charge under state law. Not in sanctuary cities.