FBI urges ICE agents to identify themselves, amid others allegedly posing as them to commit crimes

The FBI is urging U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to identify themselves, amid people allegedly impersonating them to commit crimes.

“Due to the recent increase in ICE enforcement actions across the country, criminal actors are using ICE’s enhanced public profile and media coverage to their advantage to target vulnerable communities and commit criminal activity,” the FBI wrote in a recent bulletin, according to The Hill news outlet.

“These criminal impersonations make it difficult for the community to distinguish between legitimate officers conducting lawful law enforcement action and impostors engaging in criminal activity, which damages trust between the local community and law enforcement officers.”

The Oct. 17 bulletin was obtained through a public records request by the group Property of the People, and comes as ICE has conducted immigration raids, sometimes with officers wearing masks.

The FBI alleged several instances in which impostors committed crimes.

In New York in August, three men robbed a restaurant and tied up its staff after they initially surrendered to the thieves because they identified themselves as ICE officers.

In Florida in April, a man kidnapped a woman who agreed to leave with a person who was posing as an ICE officer, only to be taken to an apartment complex where she escaped.

In New York City in February, a man posing as an ICE officer directed a woman to a stairwell where he punched her and attempted to rape her, before fleeing with her purse and cellphone.

In North Carolina in January, a man posing as an ICE officer entered a hotel room where a woman was staying and sexually assaulted her, saying he would deport her if she did not have sex with him.

The FBI and ICE didn't respond to The Hill's requests for comment.