EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was written in response to a reader suggestion. Do you have a tip for our reporters? Click here to submit it.
MOUNT VERNON — An Oct. 9 federal law enforcement operation at Panchos Tacos, a Mexican restaurant in Mount Vernon, triggered a flurry of questions from readers throughout north central Ohio.
Specifically, many asked about the difference between officers representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and those from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
In short, HSI is the principal criminal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE focuses on homeland security and public safety by enforcing federal laws related to immigration, customs and trade.
Still, even local officials seemed confused initially.
Last week, Knox County authorities received little to no notification in advance from the federal government about the operation.
Many, including local officials, originally looked to ICE for what happened at Panchos Tacos because of the lack of information and reports that federal agents detained employees.
Officials from the City of Mount Vernon later released a statement on Oct. 10 explaining they learned HSI, specifically, carried out the operation at the restaurant.
So, what does ICE do? What does HSI do? How are these agencies related but also different?
What is ICE?
ICE is the premier investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to the agency’s website.
The agency is “devoted to three operational directorates — Homeland Security Investigations, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA),” ICE’s website states.
The ERO directorate is responsible for upholding U.S. immigration law.
“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.,” the ERO portion of ICE’s website states.
What is HSI?
As stated above, HSI is a directorate of ICE.
In contrast to how many Americans view ICE and its directorates as just immigration-related, HSI conducts federal criminal investigations into more than just people.
“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 website states.
Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville also shed some light on the ICE and HSI relationship.
McConville noted how HSI will investigate labor trafficking issues, which can sometimes overlap with ICE.
“You’ll have foreign nationals who are basically acting as indentured servants, if you will, their pay is being deducted for a number of reasons,” McConville said.
“Either the employer is providing housing to the employee, they’re not here legally, suddenly it’s not looking like a voluntary employment relationship. A lot of those things get investigated by Homeland Security.”
It is also important to note that HSI has been rebranding itself.
In an April 2024 interview with ABC News, HSI Executive Director Katrina Berger said, “the civil immigration enforcement side of the ICE mission is not what HSI does.”
The rebrand is a deliberate effort to separate HSI’s work from immigration enforcement.
With immigration enforcement being a polarizing topic in American politics today, HSI rebranded itself in hopes of working better with local law enforcement, which may have sanctuary policies in place.
Due to the rebrand, HSI is the only ICE directorate whose website populates using its acronym.
Meaning, HSI.gov works in your search engine, but neither ERO.gov nor OPLA.gov does.
Previous HSI activity in Mount Vernon
The operation at Panchos Tacos is not the first time HSI has looked into something in Mount Vernon.
“A lot of people recall that there was a massage parlor on Coshocton Avenue, and we were tracing Chinese nationals coming into the county,” McConville said.
“They were being transported here and other places in Ohio by a network of basically foreign human traffickers, and the place shut down before we could do anything about it.”
McConville also mentioned a previous child pornography case from 2013, where the principal investigator was from HSI.
Knox Pages will continue to report on this developing story as more information becomes available.