When it comes to federal laws regarding immigration and customs in Tennessee, ICE Criminal Investigators are on the front lines fighting daily against the perpetrators of crimes in these areas to ensure that the residents and economy of Tennessee are protected. After meeting the education and experience prerequisites for employment, prospective agents will be ready to make a competitive bid for ICE jobs in Tennessee.
ICE Agents in the state frequently conduct investigations into violations such as these:
- Counterfeit commercial goods with recent investigations in Memphis and Nashville
- Weapons trafficking, including recent arrests in Nashville
- Immigration violations, with 34 illegal aliens recently detained in Memphis
- Child sexual abuse and pornography, with a recent case in Greeneville
- National or international fraud, as recently demonstrated by recovered funds in a Clarksville case
ICE Employment Prerequisites
Prospect ICE Criminal Investigators will need to make it through three tiers of prerequisites before being eligible for employment: basic, education, and experience qualifications. Researching how to become an ICE Agent by accomplishing these is a constructive first step towards a career with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Basic Qualifications – The basic qualifications for making an application to become an ICE Agent are:
- Being a US citizen
- Having a driver’s license and no felony convictions
- Being between the ages of 21-37, with exceptions for federal police officers and veterans
- Ability to carry and operate a firearm
Education Qualifications – Becoming an ICE Criminal Investigator also requires having a bachelor degree in any subject, plus meeting one of the following two requirements:
- One year of master’s-level study
- Academic exceptionalism through one of the following:
- Graduation in the top-third of class or school program
- Election to a non-freshmen national honors society
- 3.5 GPA in major field
- 3.0 GPA cumulatively or in the last two years of study
Experience Qualifications – The final qualification for ICE careers requires having at least a year of experience in criminal investigations or law enforcement. This can be achieved simultaneously with the education requirement by pursuing a bachelor degree in any of the following:
- Law
- Forensics
- Police Science
- Criminal Justice
- Law Enforcement
- Crime Scene Investigations
Working with ICE in Tennessee
After candidates have successfully completed an online application for ICE Agents through the USA Jobs website, have been selected for hire, and have finished their 22 weeks of basic training in Georgia they will be ready for their first assignment.
New agents based in Tennessee can expect to begin working right away, getting their hands dirty in any of a number of ongoing investigations. This might include being part of a recent spate of investigations into counterfeiting crimes that have taken place in the state:
- A foreign national was recently sentenced in Chattanooga after pleading guilty to charges relating to his importation and sale of counterfeit vehicle airbags. ICE Homeland Security Investigations uncovered the plot which had ties to a factory in China, whose pirated goods were worth an estimated $210,738.
- As the conclusion to another ICE investigation, agents placed the owner of a Memphis flea market under arrest after undercover ICE Criminal Investigators made a deal with the man to sell 40 counterfeit Rolex watches with a street value of $400,000.
- Nearly $2 million in counterfeit commercial goods were recently seized by ICE Agents in Nashville, including knock-offs for brands like Chanel, Nike, Louis Vuitton, and Ralph Lauren. As part of the operation $18,000 in proceeds were also confiscated.