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Allegations of federal immigration officers and women being abused by men who pretend to be immigrant and customs enforcement officers have prompted about three dozen Democrats to immediately begin an investigation with Homeland Security authorities and demand that they change the way federal agencies work.
In a letter sent this week by members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus to Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem, Ice Director Todd Lyons, White House Border Emperor Tom Homan, Jennifer Fenton and Associate Director of Ice’s Office of Expert Responsibility, Jennifer Fenton have expressed “graves” about how masked agents treat women during their immigration enforcement duties.
Ice Agent fires on the vehicle and stands off with the family’s end at San Bernardino
“In all of our lives, we are taught to fear masked men in unmarked vehicles,” the letter states. “We should run away from such men so they don’t get tricked, sexually assaulted, or killed. But Ice is increasingly carrying out assaults and arrests with masks without visible identification or badges, plain clothing, using unmarked vehicles, using masks, fear and tactics that cause disbelief.”
ICE has been criticized by immigration advocates and Democrats for failing to properly identify themselves while conducting immigration enforcement activities around the US. Many of the complaints include masked agents accused of hiding behind anonymity, making it easier for impersonators to facilitate attacks on women, DWC members suggest.
Melanie Stansbury, DN.M., Gwen Moore, D-Wis. , Chairmans Teresa Leger Fernandez, DN.M., and Suzanne Bonamici, D-ore. will hold a Democrat Women’s Caucus (DWC) press conference at the House Democrats 2025 Issues Conference. Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, Getty Images)
The letter states that ice impersonation “harnesses women’s uncertainty and fear of immigration outcomes, allowing them to rape, harass and abuse.”
Allegations of ice spoofing abusing women span the country
DWC members said ICE was complicit in continuing attacks involving impersonators, citing several previous incidents involving men pretending to be federal immigration officers.
“These tactics invited perpetrators of violence against women to target women and use the confusion by impersonating masked ice agents to sexually assault them,” the lawmaker wrote.
The ice impersonator has been arrested in multiple states following the incident involving a man pretending to be a federal officer. The instance includes complaints filed by women in Maryland, North Carolina and New York. They say they were raped, taken away and assaulted by a man pretending to enforce immigration laws.
According to the WUSA, the Latina woman was raped by a man pretending to be an immigrant official in Washington, D.C., after being forced into a car. She said she was threatened with deportation if she did not comply.
In North Carolina, an immigrant woman told police she was raped and lured by a man who claimed to be a federal immigration officer and threatened to deport the woman if she failed to comply.
In New York, police said an ice officer posing man tried to rape the 51-year-old woman after he was reported to have approached the woman and said he had “immigrated” but not shown a badge. Police allegedly sought a woman into the basement stairs and attacked her.
In this handout photo provided by the US immigration and customs enforcement agency, the New York City fugitive project team carried out the target enforcement project, which carried out future enforcement activities in New York City, leading to illegal Dominican arrests in New York City in January. (Photo by US immigration and customs enforcement agencies via Getty Images)
Arick Fudali, partner and managing partner at Bloom Firm, told News Nation on Friday. He said reports of ice officers and spoofers include power imbalances, as often as women abuse.
Whether the allegations are actual ICE officers or dressed like federal immigration officers or agents, whether encounters with immigrant women in detention involve a great deal of fear and threatening factors.
The disabled teen was reportedly detained on ice outside of LA school
“It’s a really scary situation, it’s a really scary situation because of the power that actually ice officers seem to behave,” said Fudary, who has exclusively represented sexual abuse survivors in civil lawsuits since 2011.
Hudali followed a similar script when targeting women, as ice officers who often sweep immigrants are wearing uniforms that are easy to replicate. In some cases, like those in Washington and North Carolina above, men threaten women with deportation if they fail to comply.
The lawyers said the fear and threats characterize the encounters with immigrant women who have heard of countless cases of federal officials utilising their powers.
“[For immigrants]it doesn’t sound normal for such a person to exploit and sexually abuse someone,” Hudali told News Nation. “And what is (the woman) going to do?”
Noem says ice agents always have an identification
Noem said last week at a news conference outside Chicago that ICE officials are “always wearing something,” identifying federal immigration officers and the operation they are assigned to.
She acknowledged that amid the rise in reported assaults against ice officers, officers sometimes wear masks to protect their identity. Noem said attacks on ice officials have been “an increase of 1,000%” since the beginning of the year.
However, ICE has not repeatedly addressed inquiries from News Nations and other news organizations about how it reached that figure or what constitutes an attack on its executives.
Speaking about the case in which ice officers reportedly did not identify themselves, Gnome replied, “I want to see it because they have confirmed their identity, are in a situation, are looking for these dangerous offenders, and are verbally identifying themselves,” replied.
Ice accused of abusing a woman at a detention center
This week’s letter from the DWC marked the second time less than a month after the group opposed the ice over alleged abuse of women. In June, the group sent a similar letter. This addressed allegations of abuse and abuse taking place at federal detention centers where women awaiting deportation are being held.
Los Angeles nurse was released from ice custody without charge
In the letter, lawmakers outlined the case of Iris Dayana Monteroso Lemas, who was taken to ice custody in May after being arrested in Tennessee. Montero Solemas, who was pregnant, reported that there was no pain or fetal movement for three days, but she was ignored, she said.
The woman told reporters that at Ice Detention Centers in Alabama and Louisiana, she was repeatedly denied medical care and forced to sleep on the floor.
The National Land Public Relations Office did not respond to News Nation’s request for comment regarding the allegations filed in a letter sent in July.
“Once again, women are abused by ice (customs and border protection), contractors are seduced from detention to detention,” the DWC wrote. “These horrifying stories are the result of systemic negligence, cruelty and policy failures, and must be faced head-on. They demand answers, accountability and action.”
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