Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) appears to be employing creative tactics as it continues efforts aligned with President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda. According to the Arizona Daily Star, a man from Honduras who is undocumented reportedly “narrowly avoided being picked up by immigration agents who initially claimed to be utility workers, according to neighbors who witnessed the apparent immigration operation.”
The report recounts an incident involving Christine Cariño, who said she was watering her front yard when two men approached her, identifying themselves as employees of Tucson Electric Power (TEP).
“He said, ‘We’re trying to find somebody that wanted a free estimate,’” Cariño, a 37-year-old mother of three, told the Arizona Daily Star. Although TEP personnel had been seen in the neighborhood recently, Cariño noted that the two men were not in the proper uniforms; one wore a bright reflective shirt and the other a black T-shirt, which did not match TEP’s dress code.
Cariño suspected the men were ICE agents when they inquired about her undocumented neighbor. “He just smiled. So I took off running,” she said, describing how one of the men moved toward her neighbor’s property and the other appeared to have a badge concealed under his shirt.
Cariño said she ran across the street to alert her neighbor, and captured video footage of the two men after they were allowed into the yard by the undocumented man’s stepson, who believed they were utility workers. Cariño claims that she arrived just in time to stop the man inside from opening the door, which could have led to his detention.
“They’re lying! They’re not in uniform,” Cariño is heard saying in the video, which she shared with the Star and which was first reported by KGUN 9. “Don’t let them in; they don’t have a warrant.”
Typically, ICE only carries administrative warrants, which do not authorize home entry, according to the news report. Cariño said the men, while standing at her neighbor’s door, claimed the individual had missed an immigration hearing — an accusation the man denied, insisting he attends all court dates.
When contacted by the Star, ICE spokeswoman Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe declined to address claims of agents impersonating TEP workers, citing “an ongoing investigation.” The Star claims the spokeswoman cautioned reporters via email, stating, “I’d be very careful with the TEP storyline,” but that she did not provide further explanation.
TEP spokeswoman Rhonda Bodfield told the outlet that all company employees wear uniforms displaying the TEP logo and operate marked vehicles, a policy intended to prevent impersonation.
South Tucson Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela says there is growing anxiety within the immigrant community amid ramped-up deportation efforts. She commended Cariño’s actions, saying, “That lady is a hero. We need to protect each other. Now is not the time to be silent.”
Cariño said that she and her neighbors on Tucson’s south side have been particularly alert and cooperative in monitoring immigration activity to safeguard one another. “You have to stand up for what is right,” said Cariño, who considers herself the neighborhood’s “community mom.”
The Star’s report believes that if ICE agents impersonated TEP workers, the case has similarities with a 2020 complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) highlighting a pattern of ICE agents trespassing on private property — including porches and yards — without permission or warrants in order to make arrests.
The complaint also condemns the practice of ICE officers posing as local law enforcement or other officials to gain unlawful access to homes or lure residents outside. “As part of these ruses, ICE officers routinely wear uniforms that have ‘POLICE’ written on them. Typically only after arresting unsuspecting residents do ICE officers reveal their true identities and purpose,” the complaint stated. “The Fourth Amendment does not permit ICE officers to coerce ‘consent’ to enter the home by impersonating another government official and misrepresenting their purpose in seeking entry.”
These same allegations are central to a pending settlement agreement with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which, as currently proposed, would bar ICE from misrepresenting their identity or motives during enforcement actions.
In May 2024, a federal court ruled in favor of plaintiffs challenging ICE’s trespassing practices, finding that such actions violated the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. Although the ruling applies specifically to ICE’s Los Angeles field office — covering seven counties in Southern California — it may influence future legal challenges elsewhere, according to ACLU attorney Jennie Pasquarella.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told Fox News that ICE is now expected to make approximately 3,000 arrests per day — a significant increase compared to early figures from the Trump administration.