6 Lies ICE Uses to Gain Access to Private Homes
ICE was barred this week from impersonating local police & using certain ‘ruses’ (commonly known as lies) to conduct home arrests in Southern California. In cases where ICE does not have a warrant to enter or search private homes, they have frequently used deceptive tactics to trick residents into granting entry into their homes or to trick them into exiting their homes so that they can be arrested.
The settlement approved Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Otis D. Wright II in Kidd v. Noem, prohibits ICE officers in the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office from falsely claiming to be state or local law enforcement or misrepresenting the nature of their visit in order to enter a home or persuade a resident to come outside.
It is important to note that this prohibition only affects Southern California counties, in the rest of California and the nation, no such protections will be enforced. In federal law, ICE agents are currently allowed to lie to residents; this type of tactic is still considered a ‘ruse’ and is not currently illegal in the rest of the country.
Kidd v. Noem challenged the constitutionality of ICE’s home arrest practices in southern California only, after accounts of ICE officers lying to residents in order to gain access to their homes. The suit exposes ICE tactics of making false claims to trick residents, like telling them that their car was involved in an accident so that the resident would leave their home to check on their vehicle and then subsequently be arrested. Or pretending that there was a safety emergency, so that the resident would flee their home, or pretending they are parole officers or detectives who are searching for a fugitive.
The 6 lies ICE is now banned from making to residents in Southern California
- Falsely identifying themselves as state or local law enforcement (e.g., LAPD).
- Falsely identifying themselves as state probation or parole officers or any other non-federal governmental agency.
- Falsely stating they are conducting a criminal investigation.
- Falsely stating that they are looking for someone else.
- Claiming there is a safety or legal problem with a person’s vehicle.
- Misrepresenting that their purpose involves danger to a resident or public safety
Under the agreement, ICE officers may not claim to be conducting criminal investigations, probation or parole checks, or other public safety inquiries unless those claims are accurate.
Angelica Salas, executive director, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) made a statement published by the ACLU, “At a time when roving patrols of masked federal agents have illegally been disappearing people and separating families on our own streets, a home must be protected,” said Salas continued, “By prohibiting ICE agents from using trickery —for example, falsely claiming that there is an issue with a resident’s vehicle–to lure people out of their homes, this settlement protects all its occupants and creates a safer community.”
The agreement also requires that ICE officers in the LA Field Office wear visible identifiers on their clothing prominently identifying them as “ICE” whenever they are wearing any “POLICE” identifier. This will prevent ICE from misleading community members into believing that they are state or local law enforcement.
“For far too long, ICE disrespected the privacy of community members by taking shortcuts around the Constitution’s requirement that law enforcement have a warrant signed by a judge to enter a home,” said Annie Lai, director of the Immigrant and Racial Justice Solidary Clinic at the UC Irvine School of Law. “Thanks to this settlement, ICE must now be transparent about who they are if they don’t have a warrant and want to speak with someone at their home. These protections could not come at a better time.”
This begs the question, what are central and northern California counties doing about civil rights protections against ICE?
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