Demand Progress

When ICE or CBP agents show up at someone’s door, they can, and often do, lie and identify themselves as police.¹ That’s a major problem in many immigrant communities.

Immigration agents misidentifying themselves as regular police seriously erodes trust in local law enforcement. It also can lead to violations of immigrants’ rights — for example, when people think they’re required to comply with a search when they’re not.²

Senator Cory Booker recently introduced the Combating Deceptive Immigration Enforcement Practices Act, legislation that would stop ICE and CBP from wearing clothing displaying the word “police.” Congress must pass this legislation to protect immigrant communities!

Sign the petition: Tell Congress to stand against ICE and CBP’s violations of immigrant rights by passing the Combating Deceptive Immigration Enforcement Practices Act!

This deception is a threat to public safety and an abuse of immigrant rights — but it’s technically not illegal under current law. 

According to an attorney for the ACLU, “We have repeatedly seen ICE go to people’s homes and coerce people to authorize entry under the mistaken belief that [the agents] are police. It undermines public safety in these communities.”³

This is unacceptable. It’s Congress’s responsibility to pass a law protecting immigrants from over-policing and police brutality!

Sign the petition to Congress: Stop immigration agents from falsely identifying as police.

Sources: 

1. LA Times, “It's legal for an immigration agent to pretend to be a police officer outside someone's door. But should it be?,” February 20, 2017.
2. Daily Kos, “Cory Booker reintroduces bill to stop immigration agents from falsely identifying themselves as cops,” August 24, 2017.
3. Governing.com, “Can States and Cities Stop ICE From Impersonating Police?” July 19, 2022.