2504: How to Spot a Fake ICE Agent

Speaker: ACT ONE ( Sound: Motel door, footsteps) It's Sunday morning, January 26th, at a Motel 6 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Police say, Carl Thomas Bennett Jr. enters a motel room. According to the arrest warrant, Bennett entered the motel room and told the woman he was a sworn law enforcement officer. Police say he told her he was with ICE. And then, he told her that if she didn't have sex with him, he'd have her deported. The warrant lists multiple charges: "Breaking and entering to terrorize or injure." "Kidnapping." Two counts of "second-degree forcible sex offense." "Second-degree forcible rape." According to police, when they arrested Bennett later that day, they found cocaine and a glass pipe in his possession. That was Sunday. By Tuesday, there was another case. in Orlando, a man named Steven Donovan on a bicycle knocked on apartment doors demanding to be let inside. He said he was with Homeland Security and needed to investigate illegal immigrants. And as I was preparing this episode—last week—a man in Newark conducted two overnight robberies. He drove an unmarked SUV, shined a flashlight in victims' faces, showed them his ICE badge, asked if they were U.S. citizens, pushed them against walls, and robbed them. INTRO [Beat] Over the last few weeks, I've been documenting cases of people impersonating ICE agents. I found more 13 detailed cases—people using fake badges to rape, rob, kidnap, and terrorize communities across America. These are real criminal cases. That doesn't include prank videos posted on YouTube. [Pause] And here's the thing: I could have found more. It was easy. These cases are everywhere if you look for them. I simply stopped looking. I'm Javier Leiva and this is PRETEND.. Stories about real people pretending to be someone else. AD BREAKACT TWO On January 20, 2025, the White House announced "the largest mass deportation operation in American history." ICE began posting daily arrest updates. Hundreds of arrests every day. [News clips montage: Trump inauguration, ICE raid announcements On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second term. Within days, his administration authorized what White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called "the largest mass deportation operation in American history." ICE began posting daily arrest updates. Hundreds of arrests every day. And then something started happening.

Opening Case: STEVEN DONOVAN - Orlando, FL (February 24, 2025)

Speaker: [Sound: Bicycle bell? Or just scene-setting sounds] February 24th, 2025. The Sabal Palm apartment complex in Orlando, Florida. An employee is working when, according to the arrest affidavit, a man rides up on a bicycle. The man's name is Steven Donovan. He's 47 years old. Do you have a gun on you? Yes. Why? Why? Yeah, because it's crazy around here. there was a Mexican, there was a bunch of sirens. A Mexican ran into a place and I locked the door and that's it. A what an illegal Mexican broke into one of the places. When confronted by police, he showed them his security guard license application and insisted they couldn't arrest him because he was a cop. According to the arrest affidavit, Donovan told deputies he was a "homeland security officer." As proof, he showed them a card from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Deputies said the card showed he had applied for a Class D security officer license. Applied. Not that he had one. That he had applied for one. And like I said, man, I'm not here to hurt you guys. I'm cool. I'm just trying to stop these Mexicans from crossing the border, committing a whole bunch of crimes against all these. Uh, you know Taurus man, you know what I'm saying? Okay? You can't just drive around town and start detaining people, okay? Put your hands behind your back. Why? Don't, don't, hey, but relax. [Pause] deputies arrested him and charged him with falsely impersonating an officer. They also issued him a trespass warning. THE NEWARK ROBBERIES - Julio Garcia Barrera (January 23-27, 2026)[Bring in the "last week" case with full detail now] Let me tell you about what happened last week. While I was researching this episode. In Newark, New Jersey. January 23rd, 2026. A victim was to his parked car, when a dark-colored SUV pulled up. Police say a man got out and shined a flashlight in his face. According to the victim's statement, the driver pointed to an emblem on his sweatshirt and said he was an immigration officer. [Build the scene] Police say the man pushed the victim against a vehicle, searched him, and took $500 from the victim's wallet. Then, according to the report, he got back in his SUV and drove away. Two days later. on the same street. police say two men got out of an SUV approached another man who was walking to his car and held a flashlight to the man's face. he asked: "Are you a U.S. citizen?" [Let that question hang] Again, the man opened his jacket and showed the victim an emblem with yellow letters: ICE. According to the report, he put the victim against a brick wall, searched him, and took the victim's wallet—about $300 cash, plus his driver's license and debit card. investigators eventually found Julio A. Garcia Barrera, the man they believe was posing as federal agent and arrested and charged with two counts of robbery and two counts of impersonating a public servant. [Pause] MICHAEL RUIZ - South Carolina (2016-2017) In South Carolina, According to federal prosecutors, Michael Ruiz would approach people he believed were undocumented. Ruiz would tell them he was an ICE employee. Not just any ICE employee—according to court documents, he claimed to be "highly placed within ICE," someone who could "achieve results even immigration attorneys could not." Ruiz would tell people he could help them get legal status in the United States. But it would cost money to pay off "the authorities." According to the indictment, Ruiz would collect payment—either cash or money orders. Ruiz would give his victims documents. Driver's licenses. Social Security numbers. All of them fake. In total, prosecutors said Ruiz obtained at least $57,894. [Beat] But here's where it gets worse. According to the indictment, after victims paid, Ruiz would demand more money. And if they didn't pay, court documents state, he would threaten to have them deported. And according to prosecutors, Ruiz didn't just target people already in the United States. The indictment alleges he also ran a separate scam, claiming he could bring people's relatives into the country from places like Guatemala—even though they weren't eligible for admission. He took money for that too. Luis Mendoza In california, a man named Luis Flores-Mendoza posed as an ICE agent in order to extort money from a woman. According to ICE's own website, Flores-Mendoza showed up at the woman's jobin an unmarked vehicle with police-style strobe lights and sirens.... dressed in police tactical gear, vest, badge, and a pellet gun. He gave her a letter and told her there was an imigration case against her and that she needed to pay him $5000 to prevent her and her child from being deported. Michelle Spicer In delaware, a woman named Michelle Spicer targeted hispanics and robbed them of their cash and other possessions. Donald Doolittle, A Houston Texas man named Donald Doolittle booked a massage with a woman at a massage parlor. After the massage, when it was time to pay, Doolittle was upset that she only accepted cash or zelle. So you know what he did? According ot court records, pulled out an ID labeled ICE and threatend her with deportation if she didn't pay him $500. But get this... come to find out, Doolittle is Safetey director at Texas Church. Joshua Warner In Galveston Tx, Harvey Freebird was driving around spots a pick up truck with what appears to be a man wearing cargopants, an olvie green long sleeve shirt and a full duty belt, detaining two people in their truck. Somebody's searching that truck, that white truck look. Who the hell is that guy? Is this security guard? He's got those guys detained and checking their license. That ain't even a cop. He's searching the truck with his flashlight. No police car, no ID on his uniform. Most people would just drive away. But not Harvey. Let's go see what's going on, man. Something ain't right over here. Something ain't right. Who are you? Can I help you with something? Hey man, don't be shining that light in my friend's face. Who are you? Name and badge number? I don't get your camera. Get your light outta my camera asshole. Don't give you shit. You're not an officer. I don't need to give you shit. Get outta here. I don't have to give it to you. You're not a real cop. Harvey follows the uniformed man to his unmarked vehicle and grabs his license plate number. Get his tag number. RGCH 6 7 0. That guy's impersonating a police officer and what he just did to those two guys is kidnapping. He unlawfully detained them, got their driver's license. The man, who was later identified as 44-year-old Joshua Warner flashed what appears to be a metal badge to their faces. You see it? It's right there. Good. You just hit me in the face with that? When police searched Wanrer's home they found fake law enforcement bagdes, fake IDs. Joshua Warner was arrested and charged with two counts of impersonating an officer. SEAN JOHNSON you got a big old Mexican right here. You don't even speak fucking English bro. What's wrong with you? In Charleston, south carolina, a man wearing a ball cap and a miltary green jacket stops a car with a hispanic driver. You got caught Mo. Where you from? Mexico. From Mexico. You're going back to Mexico? The man, posing as a federal officer reaches inside of the car and takes away the keys from the ignition. no, no, no, no, no, no. No, you cannot drive, bro. You have not a license. You, you have no license The hispanic man calls someone and tells them he's being detained by ICE. Don't be speaking that pig Latin in my fucking country, bro. We speaking that pig Latin here. This is America. We speak English in America. We speak English. English, no. Sean Michael Emrich was charged with kidnapping and impersonating an ICE officer. But her this.... he's not going to jail. He was sentenced to three years of probation and 200 hours of community service ACT TWO CONCLUSION I documented. 13 detailed cases spanning from 2016 to last week. But I could have kept going. These cases are everywhere if you look. According to court documents and police reports, these alleged fake ICE agents have used every tactic: Financial fraud and fake documents Workplace raids in tactical gear Home invasion attempts Traffic stops at 3 a.m. Street robberies with flashlights and unmarked vehicles Sexual assault and rape Kidnapping Armed robbery So the question everyone's asking is: How do you protect yourself? How do you tell if someone claiming to be an ICE agent is real or fake? (Long pause) The answer is: You can't. They use the same tactics. They wear the same gear. They create the same fear. They target the same communities. The fake ones just haven't been trained yet. No. No, not at all. Nope. Uh, explain the outfit. Uh, it's 29.9 on Amazon. I would recommend buying a small, if you're, uh, my size. This one's a little too loose for my liking, but, uh, yeah, if you want some entertainment, wear this and go to a Home Depot in a sanctuary city like where I live right now, Washington, DC and you'll see all the illegals, not all of them, but you can maybe see a lot of them start to run away This guy doesn't work for ICE... But I bet he could. In sanctuary cities, you are ordered to stand down while dangerous illegals walk free, join ice and help us catch the worst of the worst. Ads like these have made it's way on TVs, your social feeds, even on this podcast. I specifically have filters in place to avoid any political ads, gambling, or drug ads. But somehow these ICE recruitment ads to sneak in. It turns out. ICE is on a hiring spree. Join the mission to protect America with bonuses up to $50,000 and generous benefits apply now. $50,000 dollar signing bonus!!! That's almost as much as a public school teacher gets paid for the entire year in North Carolina. Last year, ICE's funding tripled... Making room for 10,000 new offericers. The goal is to remove 1 million undocumented immigrants a year. It's one of the highest funded federal law enforcement agencies in America. 1 million arrests a year? 3000 arrests a day. The onyl way you'll do this is if you take anyone with an accent, looks too brown, sounds too foriegn. who are here legally. This is not immigration enforcement. This is a campagin of terror targetting TRAINING CUT IN HALF. 8 WEEKS (48 DAYS). FBI, DEA, last 18 weeks Not only have they ramped up hiring... the department of homeland security even cut their training in half... from 13 weeks to just 48 days. Just as a comparrison, other law enforcemebt agencies like the FBI train for almost 5 months. They've also lowered the bar. Removal of age requirement from 21 to 18. ICE ERO agents, which stands for enforcement and removal agents, only need a high school diploma. Marketing In order to attrack new recruits, ICE has stepped up their marketing propaganda. On social media, ICE is posting memes of uncle sam at a crossroads with the caption, "Which way, American man." What a interesting slogan. I wonder what that means? So I googled it. It turns out "which way, American man" is a phrase popular with neo-nazis. Another meme's caption says, "America for americans." Innocent enough. Except this is a phrase used by the KKK. So, what does it actually take to become an ICE agent? What's the process? What's the training? What qualifies someone to have that kind of authority? So I talked to someone who applied for the job.

Laura: Hi, I'm Laura JaDeed. I am a freelance reporter, uh, based in New York City,

Speaker: Laura, wanted to learn more about how the department of homeland security is hiring practices... Little did she know that by the end of her reporting, she too will get an offer letter to join ICE.

Laura: the goal was never to get into ICE at all.

Speaker: The goal was to go to this hiring expo in Arlington, Texas back in August and just see what the hiring process was like, I thought the best way to find out would be to apply myself. come in. Bring your resume. You could get an offer the same day. You know what? Come in with your resume. Walk out with a tentative offer to join ice with a $50,000 bonus and, and all the bells and whistles. So laura brought her resume. It was completely accurate. But she may have left a few things out, like being a reporter. It turns out that on paper, Laura seems like a good enough candidate. I'm a veteran. I deployed to Afghanistan twice. I've done both military and civilian analyst work. So at first glance, my, my resume looks pretty good Laura JaDeed did two tours in Afghanistan as a signal intelligence analyst... intercepting communication, analyzing intelligence, and gathering intel on the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Laura: I figured that would be enough to get me through the first round of interviews before somebody put my name into any computer and realized that I am a journalist with a very long track record as being extremely critical of the Trump administration generally. And I specifically,

Speaker: I figured that's how this would go down. I'd do the first round, they'd look me up, and then I would never hear from them again. But it turns out, it was her lucky day. This hiring expo was dead. I get up to the interview where this very normal seeming woman sits me down across from a folding card table and asks me the most basic questions you can imagine. It took about six minutes and at the end of it she said, okay, well, staying tight. but you should get an offer letter possibly today or within the next couple days.

Javier: So you told 'em about your military experience, but did they look at your resume? Did they notice any gaps in your resume and any other

Laura: didn't seem to,

Speaker: So that's it? She has the job? Laura decided to hand around and see what else she could find out. So I went ahead and chatted with an ICE officer So. I went home and did not expect to hear from them again.

Javier: you go to this event, you, you go through the motions of applying and then what you leave and you're supposed to get an email, and what happened after

Laura: And my inbox is a zoo. I, I confess, it's a flaw of mine. When the tentative offer came through a week later, I missed it. I didn't see the email. It sank to the bottom of my inbox. If I'd seen it, what I would've seen was an offer, a tentative offer. Said, you know, don't quit your job yet. This isn't a prial offer, um, but you need to accept this within the next 48 hours to be considered.

Speaker: And also, here's some paperwork we need. And that paperwork was exactly what you'd expect. It was stuff like an affidavit that said I'd never committed domestic violence crimes or, and, uh, some medical information for physical stuff and background check papers work so they could run a background check, which they're supposed to do. None of which I submitted. I submitted none of those things. It just sank to the bottom of my inbox. And that really should be the end of the story.

Javier: But, but it's not right.

Laura: No, it is not.

Speaker: About three weeks later, Laura gets another email. This time it said, thank you for applying as the next step in your application process, we need you to take a drug test. And I got that one and I was like, oh, that stinks. 'cause you know, cannabis is legal in New York. I had partake in six days before the test date. I was like, well, I'm gonna fail, but. Okay, sure. I'll take the test. Why not? and now I am expecting to hear from them because when you fail a drug test, they're supposed to tell you. So I'm waiting for that call and I don't get it. And about nine days later, I'm, you know, I'm getting impatient. I decide to log into the ice hiring portal to see how my application is doing. And what I find is that according to the portal. The Final Offer

Laura: I have received a final offer. I have accepted the final offer and my start date.

Speaker: My entry on duty date, EOD, date is listed as September 30th, 2025. I'm checking this on October 3rd, 2025. it also said that I had completed my background check. Of October 6th. Recall, this is October 3rd, so I had passed my background check in the future.

Javier: In the future, right?

Speaker: So, I mean, you skipped all the application process. You didn't even see the email and you

Laura: It, it seems so.

Javier: the bigger story here is that a, this could have been a glitch.

Speaker: Implications of the Hiring Process

Javier: This could have been, you know, you're an anomaly, right? Like this doesn't normally happen, right? And, but the other thing that it could say is that this process seems awfully rushed, right? Like the, uh, the Department of Homeland Security has really ramped up their hiring process for ice. And in fact. It's been reported that they've cut down their training to 47 days.

Laura: Yeah. That, that's the thing. It is, it's very funny that they hired me. I, I find that very, very funny. But it's not as funny when you consider how many other people this may have happened to. And, you know, maybe it is just me, but it, it seems unlikely that a, a glitch like this affected just me.

Javier: could you imagine somebody with bad intentions of like trying to kill Jews or trying to kill, I don't know, immigrants or something like that?

Speaker: Like they had really radical ideology, them slipping through the

Laura: Absolutely. Yeah. I mean that's the thing is there's been a lot of speculation. You know, who are these ICE agents? They're masks. We don't know. Are they proud boys? Are they white supremacists?

Speaker: ICE's Lack of Oversight

Laura: And the answer might be that ICE doesn't know. It might not just be us that don't know. Ice might not know all kinds of bad actors could be slipping through the cracks.

Speaker: I mean, how many people with domestic violence. Convictions are out there with guns. We see how they're acting. Critics argue that some ICE agents act with impunity. In other words, they don't have to have court ordered warrants, they can arrest anyone despite their legal status, and they can shoot and kill without any fear of prosecution. Here's Stephen Miller, the United States Homeland Security Advisor to all ice officers. You have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties, and anybody who lays a hand on you or tries to stop you or tries to obstruct you is committing a felony. You have immunity to perform your duties. And no one, no city official, no state official, no illegal alien, no, uh, leftist, agitator or domestic insurrectionist can prevent you from fulfilling your legal obligations and duties. And the Department of Justice has made clear that if official cross that line into obstruction, into criminal conspiracy against the United States or against ICE officers, then they will face justice. If the people at the top are claiming these agents have absolute immunity, then who is reigning them in? ENTERING HOMES WITHOUT A WARRANT An internal ICE memo obtained by The Associated Press states that ICE can forcebly enter home rather than requiring a judge-signed judicial warrant. This is what they're being instructed to do despite that fact that it's a clear violation to the 4th amendment, which protects, everyone.... even non-citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. They're using a warrant to break into people's houses. But it's not a regular warrant issued by a judge. They're using an administrative warrant which means ICE issues for themselves. This is just not how regular police act. Police can't go around breaking into your house, smashing windows and forceibly pulling people out of cars. Police don't go around provoking chaos. In fact, the goal is to bring the temperature down. Not up. For example, why did ICE agents decide to side swipe a woman driving down the street? And it wasn't a huge accident either. It's not like it was a huge collision. It was a sideswipe. He accidentally hit me. In your mind, this is one of these incidents you pull over or exchange information? Yeah. Like a regular car accident? Yeah. But border patrol agents exited their vehicle with guns drawn. Eh, watch out with that weapon. That weapon. Yo, watch out. What's wrong with you? You hit her. You hit her. Yo yo. Did they identify themselves? No. No, no, no. Not at all. You guys hit her, bro. You one agent you can hear in the video says, get out of the car. Mm-hmm. A clear order. Mm-hmm. Why didn't you. Because who the fuck is that? No, I'm not gonna get outta the car. What are you gonna do to me? And where are you taking me? How about you asking me for my ID first? How about you asking me if I'm a citizen? The woman, a us citizen, showed 60 minutes the bruises and road rash caused when agents dragged her out of the window. But it wasn't the physical pain that still haunts her. I've never been that scared in my life. All I could think of was my son. I needed to get back to my boy. My could see like the physical pain. It went away. Eventually I healed, man. It's gonna be a long road for my emotional state to be. Okay. The fear is that some of these undertrained, trigger happy agents are making matters worse. And maybe that's the whole point. Flashbang grenades, tear gas, and pepper balls against crowds. Did you know that most cities now require a formal declaration of an "unlawful assembly" and repeated audible warnings before deploying chemicals. In general, tear gas unless there is a "threat to life or serious bodily injury". But that's not what's happening in places like Minniapolis. federal agents have been documented using these non-leathal weapons without warning or when witnesses start filming. Agents have been filmed pointing rifles at peaceful observers and deploying gas early in encounters. TEAR GASING A CAR FULL OF BABIES Just recently, on January 14 of this year, Shawn and Destiny Jackson of Minniapolis, were trying to get home from their son’s basketball game when they were caught up between protesters and federal agents. They were not there to protest. They were just trying to get home. they stopped at my car and they proceeded to yell in it and said, get, get outta here. Well, they used profanity. And um, and I, my husband screamed and said, we are trying, They said it again and we said, we're trying if you guys will move. And of course, you know, like everybody's seeing what happened with Renee. You know what I'm saying? Destiny Jackson said she has just watched Renee Good get shot multiple times in this exact situation. We weren't gonna pull off, and you know why they were right there because. That's what we were trying to avoid. That's when agents released a can of tear gas under their car. Within seconds, there was a big boom and our car was up in the air and we slammed down and all of our airbags deployed and every, all of our doors locked and. Tear gas just started forming a ball of gas. Just started forming around the car. They managed to get out of the car, pulling all 6 kids out of the car one at a time. the last person to get out the car was my infant child. And then when he came in, he was like lifeless, like it was like foam or bubbles coming out of his mouth. I had to give him mouth to mouth and CPR couldn't even breathe myself. And all I remember is like between every breath I was saying, I'm gonna give you every breath I have until you. Get yours back. They're not actiung like police. They're not deescalating. You see experienced cops saying this is not how to do this. 6 men pulling women out of their cars, Carrying her by every limb. Throwing tear gas inside a car full of kids. stop. You give the face. That's his face. Stop it Our social media feeds have been taken over with videos like this of 4 ICE officers holding a man to the ground. Even though he's calmly laying on his stomach, an officer continues to knee him in the face. Is that really necessary? When, in that 8 week training did they teach this? If you're still listening, thank you. It's so much easier to turn this episode off. It's easier to look away and pretend this is not happening. This is not meant to be a political episode. It's a wake up call. Surely we can agree that this type of police work is unlawful. At the very minimum... uncessary. I don't think there's a better example of this than the execution of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Get outta the fucking car. Renee Godo was driving away when an officer shot at her windshield. As if that wasn't enough, when he was clearly out of harms way, he continues to shoot her. One shot entered the right side of her chest. One shot hit her arm. The fatal shot entered the left side of her head. Why? Alex Pretti was gunned down 10 times. 10 times for trying to help a woman who was pushed to the ground. The agents sprayed him. They pin him to the ground. Beat him with a spray canister. One agent remove Pretti's gun, while another agent reaches for his gun and begins to shoot. So you could argue that Pretti should have just stayed home that day. He was looking for trouble. But why shoot him? Especially after they removed his weapon. Even after the agent fired three shots, another continues to fire 6 more shot in the back at his lifeless body. 10 shots in 5 seconds. Again, why? Alex Pretti was shot 10 times. And we can't see the face of the masked man who shot him. They say it's being investigated, but we don't know these officers name. Are just supposed to trust them? What do we agree on? Can we agree that US citizens shouldn't be shot dead in the street? When someone is killed, execution style, that there should be an investigation? And not just lipservice. Unmasked them. identify thenm like any law enforcement. Release the names of the officers involved to hold the government accountable? So next time you see a masked man wearing what looks like an Immigration Inforcment jacket, how do you know if they're the real thing?