It's time to unmerge ICE; the agency is out of control. The merger of agencies with different missions and methods endangers American citizens—not just through the killings of citizens, but by disrupting lives, invading homes, and undermining communities. Overall, DHS's formation through this mash-up of agencies prevents oversight and enables waste and exploitation.
ICE was created in 2003 by blending two incompatible agencies: the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. Customs Service. These operated under starkly different legal authorities and oversight models—domestic immigration subject to constitutional constraints like warrants, due process, and civil-rights protections, while customs works at borders and ports under a looser framework. Merging them erased necessary boundaries.
This produced predictable results. Border-style authorities and tactics migrated into domestic enforcement, bringing looser legal standards into American daily life. At the same time, the agency’s mission expanded without clear limits. When legal standards and responsibilities are blurred by design, supervision becomes difficult and accountability breaks down.
Immigration enforcement was removed from the Department of Justice’s constitutional law-enforcement framework, and customs enforcement was separated from the Treasury Department’s focus on trade, revenue, and financial oversight. Housing both functions inside a large, multi-mission department has made oversight diffuse and budgeting opaque and strains local resources in many ways.
Public funds flow through overlapping programs and contracts without clear alignment to a discrete mission or measurable results.
Unmerging ICE would restore clarity and lawful governance. Immigration enforcement should operate under the Department of Justice, where domestic law-enforcement standards, civil-rights review, and inspector-general oversight are designed to apply. Customs and trade enforcement should operate under the Department of the Treasury, where oversight aligns with revenue protection, trade compliance, and financial integrity. Separate missions would restore appropriate legal standards, separate budgets, and clear lines of responsibility.
Reorganization carries administrative costs, but structural failure carries higher ones: ongoing risk to human life, exemplified by the recent homicide in ICE detention amid a surge in fatalities; weakened constitutional protections; and persistent fiscal waste. Administrative complexity is not a justification for maintaining an agency design that prevents effective oversight.
As Members of Congress sworn to support and defend the Constitution, you have both the authority and the responsibility to correct structural defects that undermine the rule of law and responsible stewardship of public funds. The 2003 merger was a mistake. Unmerging ICE is a necessary step toward restoring accountability, the rule of law, and public safety.
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