ICE and Border Patrol agents serve different roles, but it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between them under the second Trump administration.
Here’s how to tell the difference between ICE and Border Patrol.
Learn how to identify Border Patrol and ICE agents and understand their tactics and role in immigration enforcement.
The ongoing immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota primarily involve two divisions of the Department of Homeland Security: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
ICE is tasked with enforcing immigration laws within the country, and Border Patrol agents do so near border crossings and ports of entry.
But under the second Trump administration, those distinctions have blurred as both agencies have undergone significant changes and increasingly collaborated with each other to shore up President Donald Trump’s broader deportation campaign.
Border Patrol agents, typically confined to a 100-mile zone near the U.S. border, have begun deploying into the interior of the U.S., leading some of the strongest and most visible enforcement efforts in Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina, for example. They have been assisting ICE officers conducting immigration inspections across the country, including in Minneapolis.
Meanwhile, ICE received a historic funding boost through a massive tax and spending bill that Trump called “a beautiful big bill,” more than doubling its workforce. With $84 billion at its disposal, ICE has become the nation’s most well-funded law enforcement agency, surpassing the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The agency is in many ways the face of America’s immigration enforcement, with protesters organizing “ICE Out” demonstrations across the country and polls showing Americans are becoming less favorable toward the agency’s tactics.
More than 3,000 Border Patrol and ICE agents are participating in the ongoing federal immigration operation in Minneapolis, where protests have intensified after federal agents shot and killed two people in less than a month. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both agencies, described it as the largest immigration operation in history.
Can Border Patrol and ICE make arrests and searches?
Border Patrol agents can specifically stop, arrest and search vehicles within 100 miles of a border crossing or port of entry, the agency said. In that 100-mile zone, Border Patrol agents have broad powers to question people and conduct warrantless searches if they have “reasonable suspicion” of immigration violations.
ICE said its agents can “detain for short periods of time” people they have “reasonable suspicion” of entering the country illegally. The agency also says its officers can “arrest people they believe to be illegal immigrants” and have “consensual encounters and conversations with people” on the street.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling paving the way for ICE to use race, accent and place of work as factors in determining who it may stop and detain. Since the ruling, state and local officials, protesters and even police chiefs have accused immigration enforcement agents of engaging in racial profiling.
ICE has also come under intense scrutiny over claims that federal agents can forcibly enter homes without a warrant signed by a judge, a move that constitutional scholars, immigration experts and federal judges say clearly violates the Fourth Amendment.
How to distinguish between ICE and Border Patrol agents
Many of the federal immigration agents involved in recent large-scale operations wear masks, balaclavas, hats, sunglasses and no personal identification, unlike local police who often have visible badge numbers.
Many also refuse to identify themselves or their specific agency affiliations, leading to confusion among civilians and local law enforcement alike.
Border Patrol agents often wear dark green or camouflage clothing, and often identify their agency with a vest or sleeve patch that reads “U.S. Border Patrol.” Agents in some U.S. cities are part of Border Patrol tactical units that specialize in high-risk operations such as counterterrorism and hostage rescue. These agents have been seen wearing vests that read “BORTAC.”
Meanwhile, ICE officers are known to wear vests that say “Police ICE” or “HSI,” a reference to Homeland Security Investigations, the division of ICE responsible for investigating federal crimes. ICE officers also wear plain clothes and have sometimes been seen wearing visible badges that read “ICE.” Much of the street activity takes place in unmarked vehicles.
Christopher Cann is a national breaking news reporter for USA TODAY. Email us at ccann@usatoday.com.
