With immigration raids popping up without warning across the country, law enforcement and elected officials have raised safety concerns as community members don’t know if they are witnessing a deportation effort or if they should report a crime.
As masked plainclothes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents arrest individuals in homes, businesses and courthouses, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said back in July that federal action is needed to ensure public safety. In a video statement last summer, Nessel said ICE practices where agents do not identify themselves place local law enforcement, good actors and ICE agents themselves at risk when there is confusion over why an unidentified person is trying to place another person into custody.
“These tactics present not just a shocking escalation of unscrupulous police tactics. It also presents a significant danger for residents and officers alike,” Nessel said in a video statement in July. “We’ve already seen cases where bad actors are simulating this behavior to apprehend whomever they want and it’s only a matter of time before an officer is seriously hurt by a good guy attempting to stop what appears to be a kidnapping right before their own eyes.”…