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

Noticias Telemundo reached out to at least a dozen immigrants who were victims or witnesses in documented 2025 cases. Seven did not respond or declined to talk, including two women allegedly raped by fake agents. Some cited fear of their attackers or of being identified by immigration authorities. “You never know what might happen to me or my family,” a Venezuelan who said he witnessed an impostor staging a fake “immigration operation” said.

Rep. Laura Friedman, D-Calif., said, “We truly don’t know how often these crimes may be happening.”

“If someone is robbed or assaulted and is undocumented, in this 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 even know.”

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 ICE agents identify themselves “visibly and clearly,” warning that impersonators leverage women’s uncertainty and fear of the consequences of immigration actions to rape, harass and abuse them.

California passed a law banning agents 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, the water department or any city service comes to your house, they have to identify themselves,” Kendra Brooks, the minority leader of the Philadelphia City Council, told Noticias Telemundo. “What would make federal agents any 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, 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, a local news outlet reported. He wore a black shirt, green pants, a vest marked “Security Enforcement Agent,” gloves, a cap and sunglasses, another news report said.

The alleged robber, who was arrested shortly afterward, was one of only two suspects nationwide to be charged with federal counts of impersonating an ICE agent in 2025, according to a review of cases by Noticias Telemundo.

“It’s extremely important that people who commit serious crimes while pretending to be ICE agents have consequences,” Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told Noticias Telemundo. “So, they absolutely should be locked up.” He said that he had never come across such cases in the city prior to 2025.

In 2025, local authorities reported violent robberies carried out by fake agents across 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. According to court records, a Venezuelan immigrant was raped at her workplace in North Carolina by a man claiming to be an agent. In Florida, a police report stated that an armed man had cycled through an apartment complex searching for “illegal Mexicans.” In California, a driver in a car with police lights and sirens hit someone while shouting “ICE raid!” police said in a statement.

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

‘We went pale with fear’

Convinced he was about to die, a young Mexican immigrant said goodbye to his wife. He couldn’t breathe, his chest ached, and he felt a chill race from his feet to his head. “It was something I’d never felt before,” he recalled, asking his name be withheld due to a fear of reprisals. His doctor later diagnosed it as his first panic attack.

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

“You’re going back to Mexico,” a man told the immigrants in a video recorded from inside their truck. He insulted them for their appearance and for not speaking English, took their keys and snatched the immigrant’s phone when he called his boss. The manager later told the police that the fake agent had claimed to be from ICE and had warned him that all his employees were going to go to “f-----g jail.”

“That 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 a breach of peace. He apologized for his actions and was sentenced to three years’ probation and 200 hours of community service.

Noticias Telemundo tried to reach him through his attorney, who declined an interview.

The young Mexican immigrant was the only one who followed through with a complaint. He said his co-workers were terrified of retaliation or deportation, but he was convinced that “all people, regardless of their race, deserve respect.”

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

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

“They have to consider that the risk isn’t only immigration-related, but also that this [crime] 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, the Philadelphia DA, adding that witnesses are also reluctant to appear in court for fear of arrest or deportation.

“This makes the work of public safety much more difficult,” he said.

In mid-September, a Honduran immigrant was detained by police in Iowa while trying to retrieve 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 police and seeking protection,” said the ACLU’s Shah, who, like other experts interviewed for this story, stressed that public safety for everyone depends on it.