What types of chemical agents are allowed for use by ICE under US law?
Executive summary
ICE and other federal immigration officers are legally permitted to use “chemical irritants” — commonly described in reporting as tear gas, pepper spray/OC, pepper balls and similar crowd-control agents — under U.S. law and DHS policy, but those uses are constrained by agency manuals, federal court orders and international norms that distinguish law-enforcement use from battlefield bans [1] [2] [3]. Public reporting and ICE documents show these are treated as intermediate or crowd‑control force options rather than weapons of first resort, and courts have recently imposed local limits on how and when they may be deployed [4] [2] [5].
1. What the phrase “chemical agents” means in practice for ICE
Reporting and ICE policy sources use the terms “chemical irritants” and “tear gas” interchangeably with pepper spray (oleoresin capsicum, OC) and munitions such as pepper balls, indicating that ICE’s operational vocabulary centers on non‑lethal irritants designed for crowd control and officer self‑defense rather than militarized chemical weapons [1] [6] [2] [3].
2. Legal and policy authorities that allow their use
ICE use of force is governed by federal statutes, the U.S. Constitution and Department of Homeland Security/ICE directives and handbooks that authorize “intermediate force weapons” and specify conditions for use; the ICE Firearms and Use of Force Handbook expressly contemplates OC spray as a self‑defense spray in specific regulated contexts and treats chemical agents as controlled assets with transport restrictions [4] [7].
3. Which specific agents appear in reporting and court filings
Journalistic and court accounts repeatedly identify tear gas, pepper spray/OC and projectiles that deliver irritants (e.g., pepper balls) as the chemicals federal immigration agents have used in protests and operations — the factual record in recent litigation and media coverage cites those categories specifically [1] [6] [8] [5].
4. International law vs. domestic policing: an important distinction
Although international treaties like the Chemical Weapons Convention ban the use of tear gas in warfare, the same convention explicitly permits “law enforcement including domestic riot control,” and U.S. practice follows that distinction: riot control agents may be used by domestic police and federal law‑enforcement when governed by domestic law and policy [3].
5. Judicial and local limits on use — not an unrestricted license
Federal judges have recently enjoined or limited how and when federal agents deploy chemical irritants in particular cities, requiring warnings and other procedures before use and finding instances where use violated protesters’ rights; these court orders have constrained ICE deployments on a case‑by‑case basis [2] [3] [5].
6. Operational caveats and transport restrictions
ICE and related federal rules impose practical constraints: for example, TSA/FAA rules prohibit chemical agents in aircraft cabins and limit OC spray in checked baggage to specified small containers, and ICE policy treats chemical agents as controlled, prohibiting them aboard government aircraft and regulating who may authorize and carry such items [4].
7. Conflicting narratives and stakeholders’ agendas
Civil‑rights groups, journalists and plaintiffs in lawsuits argue ICE has used chemical irritants indiscriminately and retaliatorily against peaceful observers; DHS and some federal officials defend deployments as necessary to counter violence or threats to officers — the factual record contains both documented deployments and judicial findings limiting certain uses, reflecting competing narratives and legal scrutiny rather than a simple authorization-versus‑ban binary [1] [9] [5].
8. What this reporting does not show
Available sources establish that OC/pepper spray, tear gas and irritant munitions have been used and are governed by ICE/DHS policy and court limits, but no single source in the provided reporting publishes an exhaustive, up‑to‑date list of every chemical formulation ICE is authorized to procure or the detailed internal approval matrix; that information would reside in classified or internal procurement and use‑of‑force files not provided here [4] [7].