Tension between US citizens and ICE agents is at an all-time high as protests and riots break out across the entire country. If people didn’t like the immigrant kidnappers enough, now some people are starting to dress like them as a disguise to do their crimes. A petty robber in Northeast Philadelphia dressed up like an ICE agent to steal from a car repair shop and attack its cashier. Wearing a police-like uniform with the words “Security Enforcement Agent,” the man burst into the business shouting “immigration” before stealing around $1,000 and fleeing in a white van, per 6ABC.
The Philadelphia ‘ICE’ robber also zip-tied the employee behind the counter, bruising her in the process. Several other workers who were present were said to have run off out of fear after the culprit came into the shop. They later returned to help the restrained victim, but it’s understandable why anyone would be afraid of being ‘kidnapped,’ like so many have been by ICE agents across the States. Philadelphia Police Department’s Captain Jack Ryan claims that “Federal immigration authorities come several people deep,” meaning no agent acts solo but in groups. “So, if you have someone representing himself as Immigration, you need to take a close look at that, and they should have a badge and a corresponding ID.”
The ironic problem here is that, when seizing immigrants, ICE agents are known not to show any ID or do any of the legal procedures that police do during arrests. “Great move to have law enforcement dress like random douchebags and not present ID when doing their raids; you just gave the perfect cover to criminals,” remarks a Redditor reacting to the ICE impersonator in Philadelphia. “ICE isn’t law enforcement, technically. They are under the umbrella of DHS, not the DOJ, not that it makes much difference,” clarifies another user. “They also are not acting with judicial authority, as the warrants they use are not signed by a judge, and are rather administrative warrants.
Regardless of the ‘umbrella’ under which ICE operates, it’s apparent that they are acting under Trump’s orders and rarely follow proper law-related procedures, at least in the eyes of the public. “When you have unidentified masked men in unmarked vehicles accosting people on the street, it was only a matter of time before this happened,” observes one person. “Why wouldn’t criminals do this?” agrees another. After all, “ICE has set the precedent to mask their faces and not answer questions.”
The sad reality, though, is that people voted for this to happen. It’s those who advocated for Trump who are responsible for bringing about ICE agents and, in turn, ICE impersonators. These supporters need to wake up eventually if America is to get out of the mess that it’s in and vote for a proper leader.
