Defining paramilitariesAs a government professor who studies policing and state security forces, I believe it’s clear that ICE meets many but not all of the most salient definitions. It’s worth exploring what those are and how the administration’s use of ICE compares with the ways paramilitaries have been deployed in other countries. The first refers to highly militarized police forces, which are an official part of a nation’s security forces. These “paramilitary police,” such as the French Gendarmerie, India’s Central Reserve Police Force or Russia’s Internal Troops, are modeled on regular military forces. The second definition denotes less formal and often more partisan armed groups that operate outside of the state’s regular security sector.