What firearms are listed in the ICE Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) policy?
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Executive summary
The ICE ERO firearms policy refers to a formal, agency-level roster of "ICE‑approved firearms and intermediate force weapons" contained in its Firearms and Use of Force Handbook and related directives, and it authorizes specific ICE‑issued shoulder‑fired weapons for HSI personnel; however, the provided documents show that the lists exist without exposing the full, itemized weapons roster in the excerpts available here [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and ICE materials confirm centralized oversight of weapon approvals and training but the exact make/model inventory is not visible in the supplied snippets, so definitive model-by-model reporting cannot be produced from these sources alone [1] [3] [4].
1. What the policy framework says about approved firearms
The governing architecture for ERO weapons authority is a set of ICE directives and a Firearms and Use of Force Handbook that include appendices specifically titled to list "ICE‑approved firearms and intermediate force weapons," meaning the policy formally catalogs which weapons are authorized for ICE components to issue and carry on duty [1]. Directive 19009.3 — the Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations firearms and use of force directive — and the interim firearms policy further codify requirements for issuance, training, and oversight of firearms, indicating the list of approved weapons sits within a structured policy and approval process rather than being informal or ad hoc [3] [5].
2. What is explicitly shown in the available documents
A FOIA release for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) armed personnel explicitly notes authorization for a specified ICE‑issued shoulder‑fired firearm, demonstrating that component‑level documents enumerate particular weapons for issuance to agents [2]. The Firearms and Use of Force Handbook references "Appendix III – ICE‑Approved Firearms and Intermediate Force Weapons," which is the section intended to contain the itemized inventory; the source excerpts make clear the appendix exists but do not reproduce the appendix contents in the provided snippets [1]. ICE leadership pages and ERO descriptions confirm that the Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs oversees firearms training and equipment procurement, reinforcing that approved weapons are managed centrally [6] [4].
3. What is known about how weapons are chosen and controlled
ICE relies on a formal committee and responsible officials to review firearms, use of force incidents, and officer safety issues; that governance structure implies weapon selection and approval are subject to operational, training, and legal review before inclusion on the authorized list [1]. The committee makeup—senior leaders across OFTP, HSI, ERO, OPR and legal advisors—signals cross‑component input and centralized accountability for what becomes "ICE‑approved" [1]. Public job postings and training imagery corroborate that ERO officers are trained to carry agency‑authorized firearms as a routine operational requirement [7] [8] [9].
4. Limits of the available reporting and alternative viewpoints
The supplied materials demonstrate policy existence and a process for listing approved firearms but do not provide the full, itemized inventory of models and calibers for ERO in the excerpts given, so any attempt here to name specific sidearms, rifles, or intermediate weapons would exceed what these documents explicitly reveal [1] [2]. Independent reporting (e.g., Wikipedia summaries) and public images note that ICE maintains lists of authorized personally owned and issued weapons, but such secondary sources do not replace the primary appendix text for confirming precise models and make/model changes over time [10]. Advocates and critics alike have argued about militarization and equipment appropriateness for civil immigration enforcement; the governance described in ICE documents is relevant to those debates because it centralizes decision‑making and ostensibly provides oversight [1] [4].
5. Bottom line
ICE ERO’s policy documents formally include an "ICE‑approved firearms and intermediate force weapons" appendix and component FOIA releases identify authorized ICE‑issued shoulder‑fired firearms for HSI, but the specific, itemized roster of firearms authorized for ERO duty is not reproduced in the provided source snippets, and therefore cannot be listed verbatim from these materials alone [1] [2] [3]. To produce a complete, current model‑by‑model list would require the full Appendix III or the agency’s published inventory in an accessible FOIA release or directive attachment that contains the roster [1] [3].