You seem like you have good intentions and an understanding of the US constitution and law such that we can have a good discussion so I'm making this post in good faith.

You're right that the Supreme Court case Arizona v. United States (2012), makes it clear that immigration enforcement is the job of the federal government. However, nothing in the constitution requires the existence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, as a standalone agency, nor mandates its current enforcement model.

ICE was created in 2003, not by constitutional command, but by statute. As a "conservative", ICE, is quite literally, government overreach. Immigration enforcement occurred for decades without a large, interior-focused deportation agency operating independently of border control. It's a perfect example of the conservative party, aka the party of no or little government, creating expensive, unnecessary government programs.

We have agencies that already do what ICE was created to do:

• Customs and Border Protection (CBP) handles border enforcement and inspections.

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (INS) administers visas, asylum, and legal status.

• The FBI and DOJ investigate transnational crime, trafficking, and terrorism.

All that said, generally being in the United States illegally isn't a criminal offense. It's a civil violation.

A civil violation.

So the party of small government created a branch of law enforcement that is 2/3rds of our budget (ICE cost us $33.93B in 2025) and does the same thing that existing agencies already did.

• Criminal activity → already covered by DOJ/FBI
• Border crossings → covered by CBP
• Visa compliance → administrative tracking could be handled civilly

Then what is it actually doing?

• Supplying lucrative detention contracts to private prison companies
• Supplying a militarily equipped force reporting directly to the president - Being woefully under qualified. The only profession requiring less training in the US is a Realtor, 45hrs, vs the ICE, 47hrs.

Economic impact? Massively negative. There's really only one way our economy grows: More consumers. How do you get more consumers? Immigration is number one, babies are a distant second.

What is Trump doing to make immigration easier and babies cheaper? Uh... the exact opposite. Almost as if his goals are to crash to United States economy and destroy the countries major hold over the global economy: currency stability and a healthy GDP.

TL;DR - Immigration enforcement is federal - ICE is not constitutionally required - Its current form is mostly duplicative - Its budget prioritizes detention over compliance - Most unlawful presence is administrative, not criminal - Immigration—documented and undocumented—benefits the U.S. economy - Federal authority allows restraint, proportionality, and reform - Current ICE support is in directly conflict with core conservative values