Did U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement "rebrand" itself to be publicly known as Homeland Security Investigators, not ICE? No, that's not true: ICE still exists under the same old name. "Homeland Security Investigators" discussed in social media posts is not a brand-new entity -- it has operated since 2010 as one of the major divisions within ICE, but the correct name is Homeland Security Investigations.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on October 22, 2025, under the title:
ICE agents are now going by HSI.
In the clip, a woman was seen saying the following:
ICE has rebranded themselves as HSI, Homeland Security Investigators. So if you see people in plain clothing with a vest that says 'Police, HSI', that's ICE.
This is what the video looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at tiktok.com/@junkmotherjess)
According to the federal agency's history (archived here), ICE was created in its present form in March 2003 under the Department of Homeland Security. Seven years later, two of ICE's major divisions were renamed to Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations.
According to the ICE website (archived here), HSI "investigates crime on a global scale - at home, abroad and online" and "has offices in 235 cities across the United States and an international presence that spans over 90 offices in more than 50 countries":
HSI conducts federal criminal investigations into the illegal movement of people, goods, money, contraband, weapons and sensitive technology into, out of and through the United States. HSI's investigations are wide ranging - our cases include drug and weapons smuggling, cyber and financial crime, illegal technology exports and intellectual property crime. We also play a crucial role in investigating crimes of exploitation. This includes combating child exploitation, human trafficking, financial fraud and scams and other crimes against vulnerable populations.
In contrast, the Enforcement and Removal Operations have historically focused on immigration enforcement. The ICE website (archived here) reads:
ERO manages all aspects of the immigration enforcement process, including the identification, arrest, detention and removal of aliens who are subject to removal or are unlawfully present in the U.S.
In April 2024, Katrina Berger (archived here), who then served as the HSI executive associate director, told ABC News (archived here) that "the civil immigration enforcement side of the ICE mission is not what HSI does.'
In 2025, however, the media - for example, here (archived here) and here (archived here) -- reported on sightings of HSI agents during immigration enforcement raids across the country, but those news articles said nothing about HSI being the new name of ICE.
The ICE homepage, (archived here) where such a rebranding would be announced, contained no such announcement on October 27, 2025.
