Department of Homeland Security
Office of the ICE Attaché - Brazil and Bolivia

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 27 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 office of the DHS/ICE Attaché has been in Brazil since September 24, 2001. The Attaché and his staff are advisors to the U.S. Ambassador and mission staff on DHS/ICE related matters. We are also the official representatives of the Department of Homeland Security for Brazil and Bolivia. 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 Brasilia, on September 22, 2005, this office inaugurated a new office in Santos, Brazil dedicated to the Container Security Initiative (CSI). Santos, Brazil is now the first CSI port in South America and the 39th operational CSI port in the world to target and pre-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 Brazil and Bolivia. Two Supervisory Special Agents, a Senior Special Agent, a Foreign Service National Investigator and an Office Manager staff the Brasilia office. One Supervisory Special Agent, an Intelligence Research Specialist, three Customs, Border Protection Officers, and a Foreign Service National office manager staff the office in Sao Paulo.

Our primary responsibility is 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 deal mainly with contraband and narcotics smuggling, trade fraud, money laundering, technology diversions, weapons smuggling (Weapons of Mass Destruction WMD), terrorism at U.S. Ports of entry, arms trafficking investigations, cultural property, child pornography, forced child labor, prison labor, prime bank instrument fraud, immigrations issues, health and safety issues, including tainted or prohibited foodstuffs, unsafe toys and consumer product etc.

We are also the overseas points of contact for the importing and exporting communities. This includes responding to questions about importing regulations to providing outreach and information on various programs, including Bio-Terrorism Act, African Growth and Opportunity Act and the 24-hour rule.

We work with US Trade Representative on negotiations of Free Trade Agreements and other customs-related bilateral agreements. We are involved in trade programs that are quasi-enforcement related, such as coordination of Textile Production Verification Team visits to textile factories.

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.

Office Contact Information