ICE and CBP (and Owls)
Hello CRAGgys,
Today I'm diving into the history of ICE and CBP to better understand what's going on in Minneapolis and across the country.
Local ICE Scare
A week ago there was a scare that ICE agents were attempting to book hotel rooms in Houghton. This set off a frenzy of re-posting of the original report, which was never independently confirmed.
However, this event has given community members a motivation to plan for future ICE activity. KATO and KI are leading local organizing. They are assessing what kinds of actions we might expect and how best to respond. If you want to be involved in this rapid response effort, please join Keweenaw Indivisible or KATO to connect to training and community response teams. As we can see from Minnesota, coordination, trust, and teamwork are essential for effective responses.
- Reporting: KI, KATO and others are coordinating on a rapid response team (RRT) for ICE activity. Join a local group if you want to participate.
- Know Your Rights (KYR) event:
- Michigan State Reporting form for ICE action, launched by Attorney General Dana Nessel. News. Form.
- Important: Speak to immigrants in your orbit and discuss preparations and rights. Building trust is especially important.
- Michigan Immigrant Rights Center has useful resources.
Continue building our local community by joining KI, KATO, LWV, or KMAC.
ICE and CBP
History of ICE and CBP
Below is my effort to summarize the testimony of Garrett Graff to Governor J.B. Pritzker’s “Illinois Accountability Commission,” set up to investigate last summer's attacks on Chicago. I urge you to read his article and/or watch his testimony. (Quotes below are from Graff, unless otherwise noted.)
The title gives a taste of what he reported "Accountability for ICE and CBP. However bad you think the corruption and misconduct at ICE and CBP is — the reality is far far worse."
In short, these are not new problems; existing systemic corruption, poor discipline, unaccountably, racism, misogyny, and a military mindset have been weaponized into a paramilitary force serving an authoritarian government.
- The current incarnations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were hatched when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was cobbled together after 9/11. Immigration had previously been part of the Justice Department.
- This change shifted the focus from a service that manages immigration to a enforcement and security apparatus.
- CBP and ICE deportation officers are uniquely unaccountable. Per Graff, "in the post-9/11 reorganization, we created the nation’s largest law enforcement agency and didn’t give it the power to have the internal affairs capacity that one would expect at even a mid-size local police department."
- "Since 2010, CBP agents have been involved in at least 74 deadly shootings or use of force incidents." Overall, 367 fatal encounters have been documented (including failure to provide medical attention, vehicle collisions, and others).
- A 2016 report concluded that "CBP’s discipline system was less rigorous for its armed officers and agents than the Transportation Security Administration’s system for its unarmed airport screeners."
- Rapid hiring of agents is known to lead to systemic misconduct scandals, as documented from expansions of police forces in Miami and elsewhere.
- Border Patrol had 9,200 agents in 2001; CBP now has over 67,000. ICE has increased from 20,000 in 2020 to over 28,ooo today. CBP increased most during DJT1, ICE has increased recently. And this is just the start of the planed hiring surge.
The federal civilian workforce over time, https://data.opm.gov/explore-data/analytics/workforce-size-and-composition (DHS)
- "CBP’s arrest and misconduct rate is FIVE TIMES higher than other federal law enforcement agencies." And that was in 2022.
- Embedded racism and misogyny: "what is remarkable is how the seeping cultural corruption since 9/11 has taken an agency founded a century ago to enforce explicitly racist policies and managed to make it even more racist."
Changing Tactics of ICE
- ICE has historically focused on deporting people who had a final "order of removal", that is, criminals and people who had exhausted legal processes to allow them to remain. In 2011 half of the 400K people deported were convicted criminals.
- But now, they have given up on targeted raids because being careful is too slow when they've been given a quota of detaining 3000 people a day.
- As a result ICE and CBP agents are now rampaging around grabbing people with no criminal records who are following all legal procedures for their asylum, immigration, or citizenship proceedings.
- About 3.7 million people are waiting (legally) for family-based or work-related green cards. Because of court backlogs, people may wait 20 years for a family-based green card. These are the people ICE is snatching in courthouses when they make mandatory appearances to renew their status.
- As a result, in 2025, 73% of people detained had no criminal conviction, according to CATO (I never expected to use them as a source!). A similar number is reported by Trace.
- ICE and CBP do not have law enforcement training to work in cities or manage encounters with innocent people. Instead they are acting like an occupying military force, with full support and encouragement of their bosses.
Case in point: Aliya Rahman provided a powerful first-hand account of how ICE is treating people in Minnesota at a public forum held by Congressional Democrats (video). Similar incidents are occurring around the country.
It's still unclear how state and local governments will be able to hold federal officers accountable; this is a new frontier for the law. Michigan, like other states, has recently set up a form to report immigration actions, which "provides Michiganders with an avenue to report alleged misconduct by federal immigration agents in their communities."
Funding ICE and CBP
CBP and ICE budgets dwarf those of all other federal law enforcement. More on this in a future post.
Briefly, in 2025:
- CBP: $93.0B
- ICE: $86.1B
- Department of Justice (includes FBI, drug enforcement): $13.7B
For comparison, the annual cuts to Medicaid in the Big Ugly Budget Bill were $91.1B, just about as much as the CBP received.
How to help
Minnesota donation hub:
Hats and Crafts against ICE
The Guardian reports that anti-ICE hats are leading a wave of "rage knitting" inspired by historical Norwegian anti-Nazi headgear. Patterns from Ravelry.
Local Needs
- Boersma Farm suffered a catastrophic collapse of their greenhouses under the huge snowload. The very best 🥕🥕🥕's! Fundraiser: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-boersma-farm-rebuild-after-greenhouse-collapse
- Housing Aid (ongoing)
AWAVE and Keweenaw Indivisible are working with the Salvation Army to provide housing assistance. The Western UP does not have a homeless shelter. Please donate.
Local orgs are raising money to help our neighbors with housing-related issues such as utility bills and emergency shelter this winter. Please contribute if you are able! One-hundred percent of the proceeds will remain local and go towards supporting those experiencing housing insecurity or at risk of homelessness.
When and Where to Speak UP
Check the calendar for details.
Here's the list view of Elected Official Meetings: https://calendar.online/electedofficialmeetings.
If you want company, I will go with you. Drop me a line.
Some public body meets somewhere every single week; take 30 minutes to show up and express your opinion. (Sample statements.) And let me know if you go and what you learn.
Houghton County Jail Committees
The 2026 jail project needs public input! You can show up and just observe one of the committees, or speak up! Details and schedules.
Other local meetings:
Why and how to attend local meetings
Events
- February 22, Know Your Rights Training, at Michigan Tech, KATO leading.
- Mark your calendar: NO KINGS 3.0, March 28, 2026
Emma's February Community Calendar
Sarah Green
Organizational Meetings
Details are on the CALENDAR. (Organizers: Please send updates when times, dates, locations change!) These groups are all very welcoming. Drop by a meeting to connect with friendly faces. Any level of engagement contributes to making our world better.
Houghton/Hancock
- Yoopers for Ukraine 🇺🇦 Rally at the bridge Sundays at 3 pm.
- Keweenaw Indivisible meets 3rd Tuesdays, 6-8 pm (work groups at 6, general membership at 7) at the KUUF. (Join KI). [Note meeting has been shifted to accommodate the HoCo Commission, which meets on the 2nd Tuesdays.]
- Houghton County Dems meet every 1st Wednesday, 7 pm at the Super 8.
- 4th Wednesdays AWAVE, 6 pm. Gathering at KUU Fellowship Houghton.
- 3rd Sundays, 7-8:45 pm, Keweenaw Against the Oligarchy Monthly Action Committee (KATO). Please register at the link to help with the headcount.
Baraga
- Baraga County Democrats, 3rd Tuesdays at 6 pm, L'Anse Township Hall
Marquette
- Every Tuesday evening at 7pm, Yoopers Unite, a gathering of local pro-democracy groups, at LoveMarq Church, 728 W. Kaye Ave, Marquette.
- Visibility Brigade Demonstrations take place regularly in Marquette and Ishpeming. Click here for information and to register through Mobilize.
- Saturday Morning Demonstrations at the Post Office in Marquette: Members of Citizens for Peace and Justice, Lake Superior Region Indivisible, Yoopers Unite, area community members, friends and neighbors gather for a peaceful demonstration at the Marquette Post Office every Saturday from 11:30 am - 12:30 pm.
- Subscribe for free to the Lake Superior Region Indivisible newsletter here. Contact LSRI at lsrindivisible@gmail.com
Michigan
- Statewide Indivisible Michigan (SWIM). This page lists various virtual events for statewide connections.
Leaving MAGA resource
- Leaving maga resources by former MAGA folks that might help people speaking with friends and relatives.
The owls have an egg! And I spotted dinner delivery a few days ago.
Thanks for all your support and all your efforts to promote and expand freedom, justice and democracy!
Stay safe,
Sarah
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