NPR on ICE Undercover Strategies
A deep dive by NPR: In the past year, many federal law enforcement agents conducting immigration arrests have hidden their identities. They have not only concealed their faces but have also masked their vehicles. NPR discovered through a review of videos that the vehicles used by officers during immigration-related arrests sometimes lacked license plates or had plates that were swapped out from their originals. Immigration advocates say that as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement increases its presence across the U.S., untraceable vehicles may add to confusion over what tactics its officers can or should be using, and could prevent people from holding officers accountable for their actions.
ICE spokesperson Mike Alvarez informed NPR that federal regulations require government vehicles to display license plates on both the front and rear. However, this requirement can be waived if showing the plates would interfere with investigative, law enforcement, intelligence, or security operations.
Some states prohibit swapping license plates on vehicles. However, photos taken by activists and videos shared on social media suggest that some federal agents are doing it anyway. Some activists have also spotted vehicles with a license plate on the front of a vehicle that doesn’t match the one on the back.
In Washington and Illinois, some videos shared on social media show federal agents making arrests in vehicles marked with Mexican objects or icons.
Read more about the tactics agents are using to make immigration arrests.
