ICE impersonators are preying on immigrants amid Trump administration raids

Experts, activists and officials interviewed by Noticias Telemundo warned that immigrants are easy prey for these fake agents: they often obey without resistance, do not speak or understand English well and often fail to report crimes or withdraw from investigations and legal proceedings for fear of deportation.

Noticias Telemundo contacted at least a dozen immigrant victims or witnesses in 2,025 documented cases. Seven of them did not respond or refused to speak, including two women who were allegedly raped by fake agents. Some spoke of fear of their attackers or of being identified by immigration authorities. “You never know what could happen to me or my family,” said one Venezuelan man who said he witnessed an impostor organizing a fake “immigration operation.”

Representative Laura Friedman, Democrat of California, said: “We really don’t know how often these crimes can occur. »

“If someone is robbed or assaulted and they’re undocumented, in that environment they’re probably not going to come forward and complain to the police,” she said. “It’s very possible that this is happening a lot more than we think.”

Friedman and 30 other members of the House Democratic Women’s Caucus sent a letter in August to then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump administration officials demanding that ICE agents identify themselves “visibly and clearly,” warning that impersonators exploit women’s uncertainty and fear of the consequences of immigration actions to rape, harass and abuse them.

California passed a law banning officers from wearing masks or refusing to identify themselves, but a judge blocked its enforcement following a federal lawsuit. Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, the City Council passed ICE-related legislation that prohibits ICE agents from wearing masks or using unmarked vehicles and requires them to display badges.

“We have laws here in Philadelphia that if the gas company, water department or any other city utility comes to your house, they have to identify themselves,” Philadelphia City Council Minority Leader Kendra Brooks told Noticias Telemundo. “What would make federal agents different?”

According to court documents, on June 8, 2025, an armed man claiming to be an ICE agent burst into a business in Northeast Philadelphia, claiming he was leading an “operation” to arrest undocumented immigrants. He tied up the teller – a 50-year-old Dominican immigrant – stole $1,000 and fled, a local media outlet reported. He wore a black shirt, green pants, a vest marked “Security Enforcement Agent,” gloves, a cap and sunglasses, according to another report.

The alleged thief, who was arrested shortly after, was one of only two suspects nationwide to be indicted on federal counts of impersonating an ICE agent in 2025, according to a review of the cases by Noticias Telemundo.

“It is extremely important that people who commit serious crimes while posing as ICE agents face consequences,” Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told Noticias Telemundo. “So they absolutely should be locked up.” He said he had never encountered such cases in the city before 2025.

In 2025, local authorities reported violent robberies committed by fake agents in Texas, North Carolina and Delaware. Court records describe a Dominican woman dragged to a basement, savagely beaten and raped after leaving a medical appointment in New York. A Venezuelan immigrant was raped at her workplace in North Carolina by a man claiming to be an agent, according to court records. In Florida, a police report said an armed man cycled through an apartment complex looking for “illegal Mexicans.” In California, a driver of a car equipped with flashing lights and police sirens hit someone while shouting “ICE raid!” police said in a statement.

“We are in uncharted territory,” said Naureen Shah, director of government affairs, equality division, at the American Civil Liberties Union. “We’ve never experienced in this country masked agents on this scale. And so, we’ve never had this problem before of people being able to impersonate federal law enforcement agents.”

“We turned pale with fear”

Convinced he was about to die, a young Mexican immigrant said goodbye to his wife. He couldn’t breathe anymore, his chest hurt and he felt a shiver run through his feet to his head. “It was something I had never felt before,” he recalled, asking that his name be withheld for fear of retaliation. Her doctor later diagnosed it as her first panic attack.

He said he felt a sense of dread in places he once enjoyed, like shopping or going out with family. It all started in late January 2025, when a fake ICE agent threatened to deport him and his crew after they finished landscaping work on Sullivan’s Island, an affluent enclave near Charleston, South Carolina.

“You’re going back to Mexico,” one man told the immigrants in a video recorded from inside their truck. He insulted them for their appearance and because they did not speak English, took their keys and grabbed the immigrant’s phone when the immigrant called his boss. The manager then told police that the fake agent had pretended to be from ICE and warned that all of his employees were going to “fucking jail.”

“This fear has stayed with me ever since,” the immigrant wrote in a letter read at a hearing in October 2025. Police arrested Sean-Michael Emmrich Johnson, who later pleaded guilty to impersonating an officer and breaching the peace. He apologized for his actions and was sentenced to three years of probation and 200 hours of community service.

Noticias Telemundo attempted to contact him through his lawyer, who declined the interview.

The young Mexican immigrant was the only one to file a complaint. He said his colleagues were terrified of retaliation or expulsion, but he believed that “all people, regardless of race, deserve respect.”

The young immigrant has since changed jobs and sought help from immigration lawyer Nina Cano. She explained that ICE’s agreements with local police departments across the country make it more difficult to prosecute these crimes. “Immigrants are afraid that the very police officer they speak to [to report a crime] he will be the one who calls immigration,” she said.

Cano said the first step is for immigrant victims of crime to speak to an attorney who can explain the potential risks and benefits of coming forward. “Sometimes it may result in immigration benefits. In other cases it may not help or offer protection. Ultimately, it is the decision of each victim,” she said.

“They must consider that the risk is not only linked to immigration, but also [crime] This could happen to them again,” she added. “It’s a very sad and difficult situation for our community.”

“Victims don’t want to call the police because they’re afraid,” said Krasner of the Philadelphia district attorney, adding that witnesses are also reluctant to appear in court for fear of being arrested or deported.

“It makes public safety work much more difficult,” he said.

In mid-September, a Honduran immigrant was arrested by police in Iowa while trying to recover his vehicle after surviving a shooting during an attempted robbery. Local authorities arrested him on an old traffic ticket warrant and turned him over to ICE.

“We really need undocumented people in the country to feel safe going to the police and seeking protection,” said the ACLU’s Shah, who like other experts interviewed for this story stressed that everyone’s public safety depends on it.