Across the country, so-called “ICE impersonators” are on the rise as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) itself has been violently arresting people without warrants, sometimes in plain clothes using unmarked vehicles. Nearly impossible to distinguish between real and fake agents, men have allegedly lied about their identities to intimidate, kidnap and rape women with precarious immigration statuses, according to survivors’ accounts:

In Prince George’s County, M.D., police arrested 26-year-old Victor Antonio Reed, who they say raped a Latina woman while posing as an ICE agent.
In Raleigh, N.C., an immigrant woman says 37-year-old Carl Thomas Bennett kidnapped and raped her while posing as a law enforcement officer and threatening to deport her. He is facing charges for kidnapping, second-degree rape and impersonating a law enforcement officer.
In Brooklyn, N.Y., a man told a 51-year-old immigrant woman that he was an ICE agent. She says he attempted to rape her, and he took her phone, purse and jewelry. At the time of publication, he has not yet been arrested.

Right-wing extremists have also been wearing ICE costumes in predominantly Latino workplaces and neighborhoods, including in San Francisco, to instill fear across immigrant communities.

In another South Carolina case, a video emerged of a man appearing to impersonate an ICE agent to harass and mock a group of Latino men. He has been charged with kidnapping for taking the driver’s keys and trapping the men in their car.

ICE impersonators are not the only threat facing immigrant women (and all immigrants). Especially under President Trump, who is ushering in a harsh wave of militarized mass detention and deportation, ICE itself poses grave risks to women’s safety, bodily autonomy and human rights.