DHS criticized as ICE and Border Patrol officers flood Minneapolis and other cities

Thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers have been deployed to Minneapolis and other U.S. cities, prompting renewed scrutiny of the Department of Homeland Security’s domestic role. Customs and Border Protection agents deployed a cloud of tear gas against protesters in Minneapolis on Thursday.

The department was created after the Sept. 11 attacks to guard against international terrorism and folded in agencies including ICE and CBP. It is now the federal government’s largest law enforcement agency, with around 250,000 employees, and ICE’s budget increased dramatically after a sweeping domestic policy bill signed last July, making it the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the federal government.

Some Democratic mayors and local officials say the deployments show the department’s mission has shifted inward. "The Department of Homeland Security was designed to protect Americans from threats, and what we’ve essentially done is, in some cases, we’ve turned that agency on Americans," Mayor Keith Wilson of Portland said.

Key Topics

Politics, Dhs, Ice, Cbp, Minneapolis, Los Angeles