Several far-right political factions across Europe are facing significant backlash for their proposals advocating for the establishment of police forces that mirror the United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This comes in the wake of a controversial period for ICE, which has been scrutinized following the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of its agents amid intensified efforts by the Trump administration to deport undocumented immigrants.
Proposals from Germany and Belgium
The Bavarian section of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Belgium’s Vlaams Belang party have been at the forefront of these proposals, igniting fierce opposition from rival political groups. In January, the Bavarian AfD expressed intentions to introduce legislation in the regional parliament to create a dedicated police unit aimed at deporting immigrants who have entered the country unlawfully. An internal party document cited by German media revealed this initiative as part of a broader strategy to tackle unauthorized immigration.
“In addition to state-run deportation flights, we are calling for the creation of an asylum, investigation, and deportation unit within the Bavarian police,”
stated Katrin Ebner-Steiner, the leader of the AfD’s parliamentary group. However, the Bavarian Police Union has asserted that there is no legal framework to support such a deportation unit.
Similarly, Vlaams Belang is set to propose a comparable police unit in Belgium shortly. Although MP Francesca Van Belleghem attempted to differentiate the Belgian initiative from ICE by asserting that it would operate within the existing police structure rather than as a standalone federal agency, the plan includes provisions for specialized officers in every police zone, full units in major metropolitan areas, and agents tasked with actively seeking out undocumented immigrants.
“Instead of only registering illegal immigrants when they are caught by chance, the unit would actively search for persons without legal status,”
Van Belleghem elaborated, maintaining that their national proposals would not be swayed by the international climate.
Responses and Broader Trends
In France, Éric Zemmour, the founder of the far-right Reconquête party, did not dismiss the notion of establishing a police force akin to ICE during a television interview. He remarked, “It would need to be adapted to France and to French institutions. But we’ll have to be ruthless,” indicating a willingness to adopt stringent measures.
Political analyst Laura Jacobs from the University of Antwerp noted that while many far-right parties are cautious about directly associating with Trump due to potential negative impacts on their public image, they are nonetheless advocating for similar policing strategies. “This fits within a broader trend … where strict measures and anti-immigration stances have become normalized, with far-right parties pushing the boundaries,” Jacobs explained.
These proposals have been met with vehement criticism from political adversaries. German MEP Damian Boeselager from the Greens remarked that those endorsing such ideas have “fallen off the democratic spectrum and can never be normalized.”
“Far-right policies form part of a continuum of violence that must be challenged from the outset, or else risk becoming generalized. If we even accept ICE model as part of the political debate, the fight is already lost,”
asserted Manon Aubry, co-president of The Left in the European Parliament.
In response to the increasing influence of far-right parties, the European Union has been tightening its migration policies. Recently, the European Commission introduced a comprehensive five-year strategy aimed at enhancing “assertive migration diplomacy” to urge third countries to assist in preventing unauthorized immigration into Europe and to repatriate individuals not entitled to remain.