How ICE went from post-9/11 counterterror agency to center of the immigration fight

As Democrats continue to withhold funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), former agency leaders argue their demands for new guardrails would mark the most direct congressional intervention in the agency’s operations — a turn for a post-9/11 agency that has largely defined its own operations.

John Sandweg, a former acting director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a former general counsel for DHS, said Congress has occasionally given ICE instruction but stayed away from managing its operations.