Specialists, activists and officers interviewed by Noticias Telemundo warned that immigrants are simple prey for these pretend brokers: They usually comply with out resistance, could not communicate or perceive English nicely, and infrequently fail to report crimes or withdraw from investigations and courtroom proceedings out of worry of deportation.
Noticias Telemundo reached out to a minimum of a dozen immigrants who had been victims or witnesses in documented 2025 circumstances. Seven didn’t reply or declined to speak, together with two ladies allegedly raped by pretend brokers. Some cited worry of their attackers or of being recognized by immigration authorities. “You by no means know what would possibly occur to me or my household,” a Venezuelan who stated he witnessed an impostor staging a pretend “immigration operation” stated.
Rep. Laura Friedman, D-Calif., stated, “We really don’t understand how usually these crimes could also be occurring.”
“If somebody is robbed or assaulted and is undocumented, on this atmosphere, they’re most likely not going to return ahead and complain to the police,” she stated. “It’s very potential that that is occurring much more than we even know.”
Friedman and 30 different members of the Home Democratic Ladies’s Caucus despatched a letter in August to then-Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump administration officers demanding ICE brokers establish themselves “visibly and clearly,” warning that impersonators leverage ladies’s uncertainty and worry of the implications of immigration actions to rape, harass and abuse them.
California handed a legislation banning brokers from sporting masks or refusing to establish themselves, however a choose blocked its enforcement following a federal lawsuit. In the meantime, in Philadelphia, the Metropolis Council handed ICE-related laws that prohibits ICE brokers from sporting masks or utilizing unmarked automobiles and requires them to show badges.
“We’ve legal guidelines right here in Philadelphia that if the fuel firm, the water division or any metropolis service involves your own home, they need to establish themselves,” Kendra Brooks, the minority chief of the Philadelphia Metropolis Council, advised Noticias Telemundo. “What would make federal brokers any totally different?”
In line with courtroom paperwork, on June 8, 2025, an armed man claiming to be an ICE agent burst right into a enterprise in northeast Philadelphia, saying he was conducting an “operation” to detain undocumented immigrants. He zip-tied the cashier — a 50-year-old Dominican immigrant — stole $1,000 and fled, an area information outlet reported. He wore a black shirt, inexperienced pants, a vest marked “Safety Enforcement Agent,” gloves, a cap and sun shades, one other information report stated.
The alleged robber, who was arrested shortly afterward, was certainly one of solely two suspects nationwide to be charged with federal counts of impersonating an ICE agent in 2025, in accordance with a overview of circumstances by Noticias Telemundo.
“It’s extraordinarily essential that individuals who commit severe crimes whereas pretending to be ICE brokers have penalties,” Philadelphia District Lawyer Larry Krasner advised Noticias Telemundo. “So, they completely ought to be locked up.” He stated that he had by no means come throughout such circumstances within the metropolis previous to 2025.
In 2025, native authorities reported violent robberies carried out by pretend brokers throughout Texas, North Carolina and Delaware. Courtroom information describe a Dominican lady dragged to a basement, savagely overwhelmed and raped after leaving a medical appointment in New York. In line with courtroom information, a Venezuelan immigrant was raped at her office in North Carolina by a person claiming to be an agent. In Florida, a police report acknowledged that an armed man had cycled via an residence complicated looking for “unlawful Mexicans.” In California, a driver in a automotive with police lights and sirens hit somebody whereas shouting “ICE raid!” police stated in a press release.
“We’re in uncharted territory,” stated Naureen Shah, the director of presidency affairs, equality division, on the American Civil Liberties Union. “We’ve by no means on this nation skilled masked brokers on this type of scale. And so, we’ve by no means skilled this drawback earlier than of individuals having the ability to credibly impersonate federal legislation enforcement brokers.”
‘We went pale with worry’
Satisfied he was about to die, a younger Mexican immigrant stated goodbye to his spouse. He couldn’t breathe, his chest ached, and he felt a chill race from his ft to his head. “It was one thing I’d by no means felt earlier than,” he recalled, asking his identify be withheld as a result of a worry of reprisals. His physician later identified it as his first panic assault.
He stated he’s felt a way of dread in locations he as soon as loved, similar to purchasing or outings together with his household. It began in late January 2025, when a pretend ICE agent threatened to deport him and his crew after they’d completed landscaping work on Sullivan’s Island, an prosperous enclave close to Charleston, South Carolina.
“You’re going again to Mexico,” a person advised the immigrants in a video recorded from inside their truck. He insulted them for his or her look and for not talking English, took their keys and snatched the immigrant’s telephone when he known as his boss. The supervisor later advised the police that the pretend agent had claimed to be from ICE and had warned him that every one his workers had been going to go to “f—–g jail.”
“That worry has stayed with me ever since,” the immigrant wrote in a letter learn at a listening to in October 2025. Police arrested Sean-Michael Emmrich Johnson, who later pleaded responsible to impersonating an officer and a breach of peace. He apologized for his actions and was sentenced to a few years’ probation and 200 hours of group service.
Noticias Telemundo tried to succeed in him via his lawyer, who declined an interview.
The younger Mexican immigrant was the one one who adopted via with a grievance. He stated his co-workers had been frightened of retaliation or deportation, however he was satisfied that “all folks, no matter their race, deserve respect.”
The younger immigrant has since modified jobs and sought assist from immigration lawyer Nina Cano. She defined that ICE’s agreements with native police departments throughout the nation make it more durable to pursue these crimes. “Immigrants are afraid that the very officer they go to [to report a crime] would be the one who calls immigration,” she stated.
Cano stated step one is for immigrant victims of a criminal offense to talk with an lawyer who can clarify the dangers and potential advantages of coming ahead. “Generally it might result in immigration advantages. In different circumstances, it could not assist or provide safety. In the end, it’s every sufferer’s resolution,” she stated.
“They’ve to think about that the danger isn’t solely immigration-related, but additionally that this [crime] might occur to them once more,” she added. “It’s a really unhappy and tough scenario for our group.”
“Victims don’t need to name the police as a result of they’re afraid,” stated Krasner, the Philadelphia DA, including that witnesses are additionally reluctant to look in courtroom for worry of arrest or deportation.
“This makes the work of public security way more tough,” he stated.
In mid-September, a Honduran immigrant was detained by police in Iowa whereas attempting to retrieve his automobile after surviving a taking pictures throughout an tried theft. Native authorities arrested him on an previous visitors ticket warrant and turned him over to ICE.
“We actually want undocumented folks within the nation to really feel secure going to police and searching for safety,” stated the ACLU’s Shah, who, like different consultants interviewed for this story, confused that public security for everybody depends upon it.
