U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Office of the ICE Attaché - Rome, Italy

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Mission

To prevent acts of terrorism by targeting the people, money, and materials that support terrorist and criminal activities by identifying and shutting down vulnerabilities in the nation's border, economic, transportation and infrastructure security. The ICE Office of Investigations (OI) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), charged with preventing terrorist and criminal activity by targeting people and materials that support terrorist and criminal organizations. OI is a critical asset in this mission, responsible for investigating a wide range of domestic and international activities arising from the illegal movement of people and goods into, within, and out of the United States.

ICE investigations cover a broad range of areas, including national security, financial and smuggling violations (including illegal arms exports), financial crimes, commercial fraud, human trafficking, narcotics smuggling, child pornography/exploitation, and immigration fraud. ICE enforces over 400 U.S. laws for 60 different agencies. ICE has 26 principal field offices throughout the United States and more that 50 international offices around the world.

ICE Vision

To be the nation's preeminent law enforcement agency, dedicated to detecting vulnerabilities and preventing violations that threaten national security. Established to combat the criminal and national security threats emergent in a post 9/11 environment, ICE combines a new investigative approach with new resources to provide unparalleled investigation, interdiction and security services to the public and our law enforcement partners in the federal and local sectors.

The Attaché and staff are advisors to the U.S. Ambassador and mission staff on DHS/ICE related matters. This office is a federal investigative agency with the primary responsibilities of conducting criminal and civil investigations into violations of United States Law. We are law enforcement liaison officers for our host government law enforcement counterparts.

In addition to the main office at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, ICE operations in Italy include oversight of the DHS, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Container Security Initiative (CSI) located at Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Naples, and Gioia Tauro. A further expansion of the CSI program to the Port of Salerno is scheduled in mid-2007. The CSI offices target and screen maritime cargo containers destined for U.S. ports. CSI is the only multinational program in the world actually targeting the primary system of global trade, containerized shipping, from being exploited or disrupted by international terrorists.

In summary, the principle behind CSI is to extend the U.S. zone of security outward so that the U.S. borders are not the first line of defense against the threat of terrorism, and to secure and protect trade lanes from foreign seaports to the United States.

Role and Responsibilities

This is a regional office with responsibility over the countries of Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, Libya, Malta and Turkey. Two Supervisory Special Agents, four Senior Special Agent, a Senior Intelligence Research Specialist, five Foreign Service National Investigators and an Administrative Assistant staff the Rome office. One Senior Special Agent, two Intelligence Research Specialists, 17 Customs and Border Protection Officers, and five Foreign Service Nationals staff the five CSI port offices.

The regional office also provides operational support and oversight to the ICE Assistant Attaché office located at the U.S. Embassy Athens, Greece and the Visa Security Unit located at the U.S. Embassy Cairo, Egypt. One Supervisory Special Agent, one Senior Special Agent, and Administrative Assistant and a Foreign Service National staff the ICE Assistant Attaché office in Athens. The ICE office in Athens provides regional coverage over Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iran and Iraq. The ICE Visa Security Unit (VSU) in Cairo consists of one Supervisory Special Agent and two Senior Special Agents.

Our responsibility includes the enforcement of Title 19 and applicable sections of Title 8,18, 21, 22, 31, 49 and 50, of the United States Code. These various sections of the United States Codes relate to Contraband and Narcotics Smuggling, Trade Fraud, Money Laundering, Technology Diversions, Trafficking in Weapons of Mass Destruction and Component Materials, Trafficking in Weapons and Munitions, Illegal Export and Transfer of Military Equipment to Embargoed Countries, Human Trafficking, Identity and Benefits Fraud, Human Rights Violations, Trade Fraud, Intellectual Property Rights, Stolen Cultural Property, Child Exploitation, Cyber-Crimes, Forced Child Labor, Prison Labor, Health and Safety Issues (including tainted or prohibited foodstuffs), Unsafe Toys and Consumer Product etc.

This office is the primary point of contact for training to foreign counterparts and the trading community on traditional customs matters. We provide training on intellectual property rights, forced child labor, child exploitation, child pornography, trade fraud, money laundering, anti-corruption, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) diversion, arms trafficking, canine enforcement and contraband smuggling.

We (DHS/ICE) are the guardians of our nation's borders and the ICE Attaché offices are the forward bases of defense. As part of our mission, we employ an integrated strategy to deliver law enforcement expertise, training and modernization to our trading partners.

Through these efforts, we develop effective partnerships to combat transnational crime, money laundering and trade fraud while facilitating international trade. This integrated strategy provides us a with a unique access and influence with our foreign partners, which leads to a positive impact on foreign legislation, trade practices and international law enforcement.