ICE Agrees to Stop Posing as Police During South California Home Arrests in Court Settlement

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Southern California are no longer permitted to identify themselves as local or state police or use deceptive tactics to enter homes during enforcement actions, according to a court-approved settlement.

The agreement resolves a class action lawsuit filed in 2020 challenging ICE's home arrest practices in the Los Angeles Field Office, which covers seven counties including Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside.

U.S. District Court Judge Otis D. Wright II approved the settlement in Kidd v. Noem, which prohibits ICE officers from falsely claiming to be local law enforcement, probation or parole officers or from misrepresenting the purpose of their visit. The ruling bars officers from using pretexts such as alleging vehicle problems to lure residents outside their homes, as KTLA 5 reports.

"This settlement makes clear immigration officers are not above the Constitution and will be held accountable for their deceptive practices," said Diana Sanchez, staff attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, which represented the plaintiffs, through a statement. "We'll be monitoring to ensure ICE does not violate the rights of our community members," she added.

The agreement also requires ICE officers to wear visible identification clearly labeling them as "ICE" whenever their uniforms display the word "POLICE" to avoid confusion with local law enforcement. The agency must implement new training programs to educate officers on the settlement terms and maintain records of home arrests to be shared with class counsel for three years of monitoring.

Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), which co-represented the plaintiffs, told KTLA 5 that:

"by prohibiting ICE agents from using trickery—for example, falsely claiming that there is an issue with a resident's vehicle—to lure people out of their homes, this settlement protects all its occupants and creates a safer community"

The settlement follows a related May 2024 court ruling that barred ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents from entering the private area around a home—the "curtilage"—without a judicial warrant or consent when intending to make a warrantless arrest.

Giovanni Saarman González, counsel for the plaintiffs and partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, said, "the combination of this settlement agreement in conjunction with the court's May 2024 'knock and arrest' ruling curbs ICE's deceptive home arrest practices and provides meaningful relief to the classes and the broader Southern California community."