Federal agents investigate and locate people who have ditched immigration court proceedings or who have committed crimes.

Federal prosecutors decide which criminals should do time for offenses committed in Utah.

There is little time to watch over a protest at the Utah statehouse.

That is not enough for Bramble.

"I think it is absolutely unacceptable that illegal aliens would protest at any state Capitol," he said. "There are rights reserved for citizens. There are basic human rights, and there are constitutional rights reserved for citizens. The right to free speech is a constitutional right. I believe that's a right of citizenship.

"I don't think the illegal aliens should be protesting and demanding rights that are not afforded them."

ICE agents say they are doing plenty day to day to crack down on illegal immigrants, particularly the criminal element. They also devote a good share of their time looking for those — criminal or not — who, despite court orders to leave the country, have not done so.

Miguel Garcia walked out of his Kearns home early one morning last month dressed in a gray fleece pullover and paint-spattered pants with masking tape X-ed across the frayed knees.

A few hours later, a U.S. government plane delivered him to El Paso, Texas, where he walked across the Paso Del Norte bridge back to Mexico.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents staked out his house for weeks before making their move at daybreak on a Thursday. Armed with a deportation order, they arrested Garcia as he climbed into his pickup filled with painting equipment.

Dressed in pajama bottoms and T-shirts, Garcia's wife and children stood on the curb in shock and anger. Tears streamed down 11-year-old Pedro's cheeks as the white prisoner van pulled away. An immigration agent patted the boy's head, saying, "It'll be OK."

"You don't just pick and choose who (you arrest), do you?" said a bewildered Jessica, 18.

To a certain degree, the answer is yes.

Though federal authorities routinely say they're going after the baddest of the bad, it isn't necessarily so. While criminals are a top priority, the agency is under pressure from Congress to arrest those with outstanding "removal" orders. The new agency doesn't call them "deportations" anymore — for political reasons.

In any case, Garcia, 42, was among some 400,000 "absconders" still in the United States.

"A lot of these people think if they stay off the radar, they won't need to be concerned," said Steve Branch, ICE officer in charge in Salt Lake City.