ICE agents have long been accused of using underhanded and intimidating tactics to detain people, and stories like this one make it hard to deny. It often doesn’t matter if you have a green card, if you’re in the country legally, or if you’ve lived here your entire life. To some of these agents, all that matters is meeting their quota of deportations. If you’re not “white enough,” or if you dare to stand up to them, you can become their next target. One of their favorite tactics seems to be cornering people in their cars, trapping them before they even know what’s happening. That’s exactly what happened to one woman in Aurora, Illinois, who found herself surrounded by ICE agents while sitting in her car.
A video of the incident shows two ICE agents on either side of her vehicle, pounding their fists against her windows and shouting threats. They told her they would smash the glass if she didn’t comply, treating her like a criminal despite having no reason to detain her. According to reports, the agents were angry because the Aurora woman had been following one of their vehicles, something that isn’t illegal. Yet, they insisted she had broken the law.
The woman, calm but firm, reminded them that they weren’t police officers and had no authority to arrest her. One of the agents snapped back, claiming he was an officer, and demanded to see her ID. The Aurora woman refused, saying she would only comply if a real police officer showed up. When she challenged them to state what law she had supposedly violated, the ICE agent, clearly frustrated, told his colleague to call 911, essentially admitting that they themselves weren’t law enforcement.
The video spread quickly online, and the internet overwhelmingly took the woman’s side. Many praised her courage for standing her ground against armed federal agents who tried to intimidate her. “Huge props to this woman for standing up for herself and to ICE,” one commenter wrote. “Every second they spend harassing her is a second they aren’t kidnapping someone else.”
Others mocked the agents for pretending to be police officers and pointed out that they weren’t wearing body cameras, a requirement for actual police in most places. “ICE agents wearing fake police badges… what a joke,” one user said.
Several commenters also reminded viewers of their rights: “Not a lawyer, but ICE cannot lawfully pull you over for traffic violations. If they try, ask, ‘Am I being detained, or am I free to go?’ If they detain you, exercise your Fifth Amendment rights, ask for a lawyer, and record everything.”
