A new House bill from immigrant rights leader and Democratic Rep. Nydia Velázquez would stop ICE agents from identifying themselves as police when sweeping up undocumented immigrants at their homes, a shady practice that “has long been criticized by immigration attorneys, who say the practice is unethical and sometimes illegal:”
Velázquez argues that the practice is “deceptive” and could discourage people from reporting crime to their local police because of fears they’ll be reported to federal authorities for deportation.
“It could trick families into opening their doors to agents from ICE without a warrant,” Velázquez told The Washington Post. “There’s not going to be a lot of trust between the police and the communities.”
An ICE spokesperson claimed that immigration agents only use “police” because it is “the universally recognized term for law enforcement,” but because immigration agents can’t enter a home without a warrant, “they sometimes describe themselves as police officers to get people to let them in the door.” Unethical, indeed. This practice has consistently been a thorn in the side of local law enforcement officers, who say ICE’s antics actually make their jobs harder:
“All law enforcement officials, not acting in an undercover capacity, working in our community should be readily identified by the agencies that they represent,” Hartford Police Chief James Rovella said in a statement. “ICE agents should not identify as local police as it is misleading and can damage the important relationship with our local communities.”
It wasn’t that long ago when Donald Trump proclaimed that “police are the most mistreated people in this country,” but expect him and his Justice Department to ignore any sort of pleas from police if it also means making life a little bit easier for immigrants.
In a February letter to ICE’s deputy field office director, Los Angeles city leaders including the mayor, city attorney, and council president echoed the demand from Chief Rovella:
“In Los Angeles, the term ‘police’ is synonymous with the Los Angeles Police Department, so for ICE agents to represent themselves as police misleads the public into believing they are interacting with LAPD,” the letter states. “This is especially corrosive given that to advance public safety, LAPD does not initiate police action with the objective of determining a person’s immigration status.”
Rep. Velázquez tells the Washington Post she isn’t under any “illusion” that this bill will pass a Republican-led Congress, but it is getting people talking about this very real problem: “What I can tell you is that we need to bring attention and call the attention of the White House and Homeland Security that there are ways to implement immigration in communities without instilling fear.”