ICE and International Norms
ICE and International Norms
Almost every day, we see a new headline about ICE: the number of arrests made, people harmed, officers stationed, and more. There’s no end to the data, and it's easy to get confused by the constantly changing figures; but, are these figures doing anything to show the names behind the numbers? Shocking statistics and political rhetoric may make good headlines, but they also make us forget the real people who suffer as a result of ICE and its activities. The ones feeling these effects firsthand aren’t neat numbers on a graph or generalized statements made by politicians; they’re humans who are being robbed of their very dignity. And as ICE continues to expand and its reach is felt more widely across America, it becomes even more important to make sure we don’t allow ourselves to get lost in either side's narrative. UNYP aims to do this by showing just how vast the effects of ICE are, the reactions from the international community, and, overall, remind you of the real people who need help in these tumultuous times. By delving into different narratives of ICE enforcement across the nation, we intend to highlight how ICE impacts our everyday lives, regardless of where we come from.
To fully understand the scale of ICE’s impact, it’s important to acknowledge that its actions have even earned the attention and ire of the international community. Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has repeatedly condemned the recent treatment of immigrants in the United States. In response to the violent surveillance and aggressive arrests, he stated that he was “astounded by the now-routine abuse and denigration of migrants and refugees.” Given his position in the UN, these words can be considered representative of the larger international community as well as a formal assessment of U.S. immigration policy, which Türk deems a policy failure. He has called for U.S. leaders to stop their use of demonizing rhetoric towards immigrants, calling it “inhuman, wrong, and going against the very fabric of the nation.” Most notably, complaints have been raised on the grounds of due process, a cornerstone of the American legal system that is meant to guarantee a right to fair legal procedures, regardless of immigrant status. In this regard, ICE has committed numerous violations of the 5th and 14th Amendments, including prolonged detention without timely hearings and limited legal counsel.
On January 27, 2026, approximately 3,000 armed ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents led a mass deportation operation in Minneapolis. After being approached by officers, an Ecuadorian immigrant fled into a nearby embassy building, prompting agents to attempt to break entry to follow him inside, raising immediate legal concerns. Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, ratified in 1963, any diplomatic office of a foreign country is regarded as the sovereign territory of that nation, and therefore protected from unauthorized entry by other governments. Because consulate officials hadn’t consented to ICE entering the building, the attempted intrusion violated established international law. While ICE agents claim the building wasn’t clearly marked as an embassy, video evidence shows two large seals reading “Consulate de Ecuador” next to the entrance. This occurrence quickly escalated into a diplomatic dispute, prompting several statements from government leaders. Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry sent a formal “note of protest,” demanding that similar incidents not be repeated and defending the actions of the consulate staff who protected Ecuadorian nationals inside the embassy. While generally economic and security partners, the complaint constitutes a rare note of discord between the Ecuadorian and U.S. governments. Representative Meeks from the House Foreign Affairs Committee also condemned the agents’ actions, stating that “Any effort by U.S. law enforcement officials to enter another country’s diplomatic facility without permission is not only unlawful, it risks setting a profoundly dangerous precedent that could put American diplomats, service members, and their families abroad at risk.” This incident is more than a domestic law enforcement controversy, but a serious diplomatic conflict with implications for how countries respect each other’s sovereign spaces.
While the humanitarian concerns about ICE are on full display in the national scene, less represented are the fiscal issues that have arisen from the agency’s spending/funding problems. For context, upon taking office on January 20th, 2025, President Donald Trump demanded ICE officers arrest 3,000 immigrants a day – far above the traditional pace. The result was ICE detention facilities reaching capacity almost immediately as the agency realized it needed to drastically increase size to keep up with the administration’s demands. To accommodate these needs, President Trump and the GOP introduced the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The bill allotted more than $170 billion – over double the annual discretionary budget – to the Department of Homeland Security for immigration enforcement through 2029. Of this pot, ICE received $475 billion, including $30 billion for enforcement and removal operations and hiring new deportation officers, and $45 billion to expand immigration detention. An increase in funding was more than 6 times the amount ICE received in the 2025 fiscal year, of about $12 billion. Now it’s also important to understand that the $75 billion ICE is using for its expansion is not the same as the money ICE or DHS receives from the annual budget. The $75 billion ICE received and the $170 billion DHS received were granted through a process called “reconciliation.” Reconciliation is a complex and controversial process. However, in this case, it effectively allowed the GOP to expedite the speed at which they could pass their budget increase as well as sidestep typical congressional roadblocks. Because the money exists outside the normal congressional budget, it is not affected by the ongoing government shutdown and budget debate. This has also led some to be concerned that the GOP could utilize this special procedure to secure more funding for ICE as the administration calls for even more arrests. With such a massive increase in the budget, the question now is: how is ICE using it? Well, back in January, ICE announced that it had hired 10,000 new agents and officers, more than doubling its total to 22,000. With incentives such as a $50,000 sign-on bonus, promises of end-of-year bonuses, $60,000 in student loan forgiveness, and millions spent on ads, the agency runs the risk of actually using more than its $30 billion extra funding would allow. $8 billion of which has been spent on just onboarding agents, costing roughly 800K per agent hired. A further 38.6 billion has been set aside to build more detention facilities across the country. With the intent of opening up 16 regional holding facilities, each holding between 1,000 and 1,500 people, and 8 large-scale detention centers that would hold between 7,000 and 10,00 people.
In the latest chapter of the partial government shutdown affecting United States airports and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, ICE has been deployed to U.S. airports amid a shortage of personnel available to perform their duties, resulting in long lines for travelers. In this context, a controversial law enforcement agency focused on immigration has now found itself placed in an environment centered on leisure travel. This development poses potential issues for travelers, both domestic and international, who must go through TSA security lines. In recent months, the ICE operations in U.S. major cities —the most notorious being Minneapolis—earned immense national criticism from both lawmakers and the public for the disheartening separation of families, the wrongful detention of numerous lawfully-residing immigrants, and most notably the fatal shootings of two civilians by ICE agents in Minneapolis. These troubling incidents ultimately brought an end to operations in Minneapolis in mid-February and the termination of Kristi Noem from her role as Secretary of Homeland Security. Despite this correction, ICE continues to operate in numerous cities across the United States. Now, at the onset of the partial government shutdown, Donald Trump has elected to send some of these agents to select U.S. airports to help alleviate the unpaid TSA agents affected by budgetary conflicts in Congress. Yet, what is being portrayed as reinforcement of government workers in need at the same time could lead to unfortunate incidents of erroneous immigration enforcement, as seen in the operations already underway. While the acting “Border Czar” Tom Homan confirmed that ICE agents deployed to airports will only act in support of TSA operations, manage lines, and help handle crowd control, the agency’s controversial history should be considered as they patrol spaces where thousands, not just U.S. citizens, travel through every single day. The United Nations encourages every single state to ensure the safe passage of individuals in their territory, though there is no official regulation by the organization. However, the position of the United Nations, as stated earlier, opposes the increasingly aggressive use of ICE in the United States. Though limited, ICE presence should be highly monitored, especially for interactions with foreign nationals, in the weeks ahead.
A fair immigration system can't be measured by how many people it arrests, how many people it can hold, or how much money it has; it has to be measured by how it treats the people whose lives it controls. ICE raids that go into hospitals, airports, schools, and even foreign consulates do more than just enforce U.S. immigration policy. They also undermine due process protections, put pressure on international agreements like the Vienna Convention, and undermine the "peace, justice, and strong institutions" that SDG 16 aims to achieve. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said that the "now routine abuse and denigration of migrants and refugees" in the U.S. is not just a one-time thing, but a pattern that dehumanizes whole communities and uses fear as a weapon. The expansion of ICE's mandate and funding, its controversial deployments in everyday spaces like airports, and the near breach of an Ecuadorian consulate all show that the enforcement model is becoming less connected to the people it governs. They also show why international law and human rights norms are important at the local level: when one government engages in arbitrary detention, cuts off legal access, or violates diplomatic norms, it encourages other governments to do the same. UNYP needs to do more than just watch from the sidelines right now. We need to tell the stories behind the numbers, advocate for the right to due process, and hold our local, national, and international institutions accountable to the standards they have promised to uphold.
Contributors: Maria Brinkman, Mauricio Davila, Zaid A Syed, Isabella Herrera, Yashvi Shah, Frankie Torres JR, Abigail Vandiver
Works Cited
Amnesty International. Estados Unidos: Nuevas investigaciones revelan violaciones de derechos humanos en los centros de detención de ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ y Krome en Florida.” December 4, 2025. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/12/estados-unidos-nuevas-investigaciones-revelan-violaciones-de-derechos-humanos-en-los-centros-de-detencion-de-alligator-alcatraz-y-krome-en-florida/.
Axios. “ICE’s Cash Crisis Deepens amid Immigration Crackdown.” June 16, 2025.https://www.axios.com/2025/06/16/ice-cash-crisis-immigration-crackdown-trump
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. “The International Bill of Human Rights.” Accessed April 8, 2026. https://www.ohchr.org/en/what-are-human-rights/international-bill-human-rights.
United Nations. “UN Rights Chief Decries US Treatment of Migrants, as Deaths in ICE Custody Rise.” UN News, January 23, 2026. https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/01/1166816.
