Axios Explains: Inside ICE's superpowers (June 2025)
www.axios.com

... The images of masked, heavily armed immigration agents snatching people off the streets and taking them away in unmarked cars have shocked many Americans " and led to a simple question: Is all of this legal?

- - - It is -- at least for now.

Why it matters: Since Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was created after the 9/11 attacks, its agents have operated with vastly more enforcement power, less transparency and fewer guardrails than local police.

- - - ICE's rules were designed largely to give the agency broad leeway in helping the FBI identify and arrest domestic terror suspects.

- - - Now the Trump administration is using that power to go after unauthorized immigrants " potentially millions of them -- with a frequency and aggressiveness that has sent ripples through communities nationwide. ...