ICE impersonations lead to arrests in at least 3 states: Police

Individuals in three states have been arrested for impersonating U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officers and threatening to deport immigrants. 

Police apprehended two Temple University students wearing shirts with "Police" and "ICE" in white lettering on Sunday after they attempted to enter the institution’s Johnson and Hardwick residence halls earlier in the day. 

“Impersonating law enforcement officers is a crime. This behavior and harassment of Temple community members will not be tolerated,” school officials wrote in a statement.

“The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) and Temple University Police (TUPD) swiftly responded to the incidents and initiated a criminal investigation.”

Neither Temple’s Department of Public Safety nor the Philadelphia Police Department have any reports of federal ICE agents being on campus. 

Similar cases of harassment have been reported in states across the nation. Sean Michael-Emmrich Johnson was jailed by the Sullivan Island Police Department in South Carolina on Friday for felony kidnapping, impersonating a law enforcement officer and two other misdemeanors.

Johnson turned himself in to officers following a viral video showing him berating a Hispanic individual while shouting, “You’re going back to Mexico.”

He took the driver’s car keys while shouting at the men in the vehicle, leading to widespread community backlash.

An individual identified as Carl Thomas Bennett Jr. was also arrested for sexually propositioning a woman at a local motel in Raleigh, N.C., after flashing a fake business card with a picture of a badge, according to WBTV.

Bennett allegedly threatened to deport her if she did not comply with his demands.

He is now facing charges for breaking/entering to terrorize or injure, kidnapping and two counts of second-degree forced sex offense, among other charges. 

These incidents follow the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on border security and illegal immigration. ICE officers have been working to increase the arrests of undocumented immigrants under the president’s mandate to carry out the largest deportation in the country’s history.