Thread: ICE LAW ENFORCEMENT 700 now at Hurricane Site.

Office of Public Affairs U.S. Department of Homeland Security September 8, 2005 News Release ICE LAW ENFORCEMENT SUPPORT PROVES CRITICAL TO HURRICANE KATRINA RESCUE AND SECURITY EFFORTS WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today announced that over the past ten days it has deployed roughly 725 law enforcement and support personnel from around the country to the Gulf Coast as part of the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. ICE employees are in the affected areas to save lives, to protect lives, and to provide security to the recovery effort. ICE's primary objectives are to support authorities in securing New Orleans and other affected communities and to provide security to federal rescue and recovery efforts. While ICE is contributing unprecedented resources to this disaster, ICE continues to perform its law enforcement missions nationwide. The individuals that make up this ICE force come from all components of the agency, including more than 400 special agents from ICE Office of Investigations (OI); more than 200 officers from ICE Federal Protective Service (FPS); and more than 100 officers from ICE Detention and Removal Operations (DRO). This cadre also includes eight Special Response Teams (tactical law enforcement teams) comprised of highly trained armed personnel from OI and DRO. Furthermore, ICE has deployed a Protective Medical Branch that consists of ICE FPS law enforcement officers with specialized medical training. The assets that ICE has deployed to the Gulf Coast include four ICE Mobile Command Centers with communications equipment/uplink capabilities to assist in the exchange of information in locations without communications; two mobile repeaters and related equipment to enhance law enforcement communication, nine ICE DRO buses, and 13 ICE transportation vans. Below are a few anecdotes from ICE operations on the Gulf Coast in just the past two days: • An ICE OI Special Response Team equipped for marine operations rescued a 99-year-old woman who had been stuck in her New Orleans home surrounded by four feet of water since Hurricane Katrina hit last week. The woman is the mother of a Lieutenant Colonel currently serving with the U.S. military in Iraq. After the hurricane, her son in Iraq had contacted his military command in the United States via e-mail asking for assistance for his mother. The request was passed to military Page 1 of 2 www.ice.gov

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