Men impersonating ICE agents are abducting and assaulting women. I warned about this when ICE agents started to detain people wearing street clothes and face masks.
When I saw the video of Tuft’s University student Rümeysa Öztürk being confronted on the street, I could see the sheer panic in her body language when a group of men in plain clothes and masks surrounded her.
I could sense her confusion as they rushed towards her. Who are they? Why are they coming towards her? Why are they grabbing her and taking her phone?
We were taught to fear strange men wearing masks. If we were walking down the street and a stranger with his face covered by a black fabric mask walked up and grabbed us, our instinct would be to scream, fight, and try to get away.
We must stand up and demand that DHS take action to protect women from being assaulted by men impersonating ICE agents.
There are countless videos of masked agents in plain clothes detaining someone as a family member asks repeatedly, “Who are you with?” “Where are you taking her?” but there’s no response—only silence.
This is when I asked myself, “How are we supposed to know that these men aren’t psychopaths wearing masks?”
I thought about how easy it would be for human traffickers to put on a mask and go around abducting people off the street without raising suspicion. I can’t say for sure, but I’m willing to bet it’s already happened.
Think about it. We’ve heard families tell the same story: A family member was taken and the agent(s) detaining them refused to say where they were going. Days later they still haven’t been able to locate them and no one seems to know where they are.
The people who are “missing” could just be the result of incompetence or cruelty. However, there’s also a chance it could be the result of foul play. I hope an investigative journalist is keeping track of and following up on these stories. I’ve never heard anything after the initial reporting on their story.
If ICE agents aren’t wearing uniforms or badges and they’re refusing to identify themselves or respond when asked, “Who are you?” it’s an open invitation for rapists and murderers to put a mask on and pretend to be an ICE agent.
Men Impersonating ICE Agents
What a perfect opportunity for them to abduct victims off the street in broad daylight with no one attempting to help the victim or call the police. I assumed everyone could see what was coming next when videos of men in jeans and t-shirts, faces covered, were grabbing people and throwing them into unmarked vans. I guess not (or they did but didn’t care).
Now it has happened to at least three women. I say “at least” because it’s highly unlikely that immigrants are going to report crime to law enforcement when people showing up to court, who are following the law, end up being detained and deported.
Immigrants aren’t just concerned about being deported back to their home country. The Trump administration has sent innocent people to a torture prison in El Salvador, and to third countries with active civil unrest and awful human rights records, like South Sudan.
Not many people are willing to risk that happening to them so they’ll stay quiet.
Three women have now reported being abducted and raped by men in masks claiming to be working with ICE. I haven’t heard anything from the administration or Kristi Noem. Women in the Democratic Party in Congress (about 30+ of them) sent a letter to Noem asking her to please do something to protect these women. She could start by making it a policy that all agents wear uniforms or ID badges. or stop hiding their faces.
Kristi Noem doesn’t seem to care about immigrants. In fact, every member of the Trump administration talks about them as if they’re sub-human. Immigrants are all “criminals, murderers, rapists, and gang members.”
Here’s an Instagram video about whats been happening to women. These victims suffered because of poor policies at the DHS andin the Trump administration:
Former FBI Agent Speaks Out About Men Impersonating ICE Agents
Mike German, a former FBI agent and fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, told the Guardian last week that the shootings of two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, by a suspect who allegedly impersonated a police officer, highlights the danger of police not looking like police.
“Federal agents wearing masks and casual clothing significantly increases this risk of any citizen dressing up in a way that fools the public into believing they are law enforcement so they can engage in illegal activity. It is a public safety threat, and it’s also a threat to the agents and officers themselves, because people will not immediately be able to distinguish between who is engaged in legitimate activity or illegitimate activity when violence is occurring in public,” he said.
