ICE Frequencies

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is an umbrella agency under the Department of Homeland Security. Within ICE are Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

All ICE operations are using APCO P-25 digital mode with AES encryption. The different offices within ICE have their own encryption keys, as well as a common encryption key for all ICE agencies. It appears that these radio networks are not linked to a nationwide dispatch center. But they are apparently connected to regional and local area ICE offices. If an ICE unit needs to run a license plate or requires some other assistance, they do contact the CBP National Law Enforcement Communications Center (NLECC) in Orlando on the CBP radio channels. Here are some frequencies that are specifically allocated to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations;

162.0500

162.6125

162.8250

162.9000

162.9250

163.1250

163.2250

163.6250

163.6750

164.1000

164.3000

164.3250

164.6000

164.7750

164.8625

164.9625

165.2375

165.3250

165.3375

165.4125

165.4375

165.4625

165.4875

165.5125

165.6375

165.6875

165.7375

165.7625

165.9500

165.9750

166.1250

166.2000

166.2250

166.2750

166.3000

166.3750

166.4375

166.4625

166.4875

166.5375

166.5625

166.5875

166.6000

166.6750

166.7375

166.8750

168.0000

169.5500

170.1000

170.2000

170.6250

171.5000

172.3500

173.5000

407.6500

407.7000

412.9250

414.8000

415.1000

415.7500

418.4000

418.7250

419.5750

 

CONVENTIONAL CHANNELS

Here are the nationwide ICE conventional channels that have been confirmed over the to the years;

162.9125         N069   ICE Nationwide Repeater – input

163.1125         N169   ICE Nationwide TAC 3

163.7000         N169   ICE Nationwide TAC 1

163.7250         N169   ICE Nationwide Direct

164.7875         N169   ICE Nationwide TAC 4

165.8375      100.0PL DHS Common (analog)

165.8375         N001   DHS Common (P-25)

166.4625      103.5PL Nationwide Federal Common (analog)

166.4625         N001   Nationwide Federal Common (P-25)

168.5875         N169   ICE Nationwide TAC 2

171.2500         N069   ICE Nationwide Repeater

 

REGIONAL NETWORKS

In addition to these assigned frequencies, ICE has regional “clusters” of VHF repeaters that are linked together. The systems are usually set up using “vote-scan”, where the subscriber radios in the field will automatically search out the nearest repeater sites as they move through the region. Vote scan systems can be spotted by watching for repeaters keying up briefly at regular intervals.

Let us look at some of these ICE regional systems. In 2014, ICE began to upgrade their older radio systems in Florida. These new ICE repeaters have been seen using a P-25 network access code (NAC) of N100, N200 or NF00. Here are some of the new repeater frequencies that appear to be associated with the ICE communications system:

164.2250, N200

164.9250, N200

166.7375, N200

167.3000, N200

167.8500, N200

169.1625, N100

169.6000, N100

169.9125, N100

170.3375, NF00

172.0625, N100

172.5625, N200

172.7625, N100

These frequencies have been heard along the western coast and Florida panhandle area:

164.9250, N200

165.8500, N169

171.3250, N200

171.6625, N200

171.7625, N200

The frequencies using the NAC of 200 seem to be all linked and used along the Florida panhandle and into Mississippi and Alabama, from listener reports.

Moving up to the northeast part of the country, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania;

163.6500, N305          Bolton, CT

163.6500, N385          Philadelphia, PA

163.6750, N319          Boston, MA (Logan Airport)

163.6750, N296          Manchester, NH

163.7000, N301          Providence, RI

163.7375, N382          Trenton, NJ

163.7500, N289          Boston, MA

163.7500, N300          Ledyard, CT

163.7750, N303          Mt. Washington Observatory, NH

165.7375, N291          Boston, MA

166.2750, N296          Greenfield, MA

167.5375, N297          Avon, CT

169.8000, N389          Pittsburgh, PA

170.7250, N388          Harrisburg, PA

172.7750, N294          Worcester, MA

Here is a list of suspected locations of ICE vote-scan repeaters in the Garden State. This network uses a common P-25 NAC for all the sites:

167.7250, N9C5         Trenton

167.7750, N9C5         Long Beach Island

170.3375, N9C5         Swedesboro

171.6875, N9C5         Newark

171.7500, N9C5         Morristown

171.9875, N9C5         Philadelphia

172.2125, N9C5         Atlantic City

In the Philadelphia, PA area, I believe there is an ICE vote-scan network operating. I do not have the exact location of the repeaters, but they are all operating with similar P-25 NACs:

162.8250, N383

162.9000, N383

163.7875, N382

170.1625, N382

171.1875, N385                     

172.2625, N384         

Now let’s move out to the west coast and the Los Angeles area, with some known ICE operations there:

163.7500, N109

163.8250, N111

165.9250, N112

168.8250, N104

168.8250, N108

168.8500, N110

168.9250, N115 - LAX Airport TBIT (Tom Bradley International Terminal)

168.9750, N106

170.6250, N114

170.6750, N113

In the Atlanta, Georgia area, I have found multiple regional repeaters that seem to be part of an ICE vote-scan network. I first stumbled on these during the Super Bowl game in Atlanta in 2019. These repeaters were busy during my visit to the Atlanta area, and were completely encrypted, and using the Network Access Codes (NAC) of NB10 and NB11. The P-25 radio identifications all appeared to be in the range previously identified as being used by ICE. The 162 MHz frequencies are likely the input channels to the repeaters:

162.2250, NB10        

162.9250, NB11        

166.4750, NB10        

169.3750, NB10        

169.7375, NB10        

169.9125, NB10        

170.1000, NB10        

170.4375, NB10        

170.9875, NB10        

171.1875, NB10        

171.5250, NB10        

172.1125, NB10        

173.7875, NB10

 

TRUNKED SYSTEMS

 ICE has a VHF trunked system in the San Francisco Bay area and is planning for additional trunked systems in the future. The SF area P25 trunked system, identified as System 4D5, is shared by other DHS agencies as well. You can find out more about this system and frequencies on the Radio Reference site. It lists the system under Customs and Border Protection, but the system is managed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The planned ICE trunked system for the Caribbean will be VHF P-25 and will also be shared with other DHS agencies, as well as other federal law enforcement agencies. This new trunked system will replace a mishmash of aging conventional repeaters that are not able to currently cover the U.S. territories in the area around Puerto Rico. These new frequencies should start coming online in the next couple of years as construction progresses.