Unmarked, Plate-Less Vehicles Seen in ICE Arrests Across U.S., Report Finds: 'The Agency Clearly Wants to Appear Like a Ghost'

Unmarked, plate-less vehicles have been used in immigration-related arrests across the United States, according to videos reviewed by NPR and accounts from activists and former officials, raising concerns about transparency and accountability as the Trump administration ramps up mass arrest and deportations.

In a TikTok video from September, a masked man in a tactical vest sprints across a Chicago street toward a Ford SUV with no rear license plate as others in police gear climb inside. Red-and-blue lights flash while bystanders shout that immigration agents are "separating families." The vehicle bears no markings indicating it belongs to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or any other federal agency.

Similar videos have appeared across the country, as NPR explains. In one recorded in Washington state in June, a federal agent in a police vest is seen driving a black Ford SUV with no rear plate. A July video posted on the Eyes Up app from a Los Angeles suburb shows a blue Nissan with a "Lexus of Valencia" dealer placard in place of a plate, parked alongside vehicles used in an apparent immigration arrest. NPR said it verified dates and locations where possible and cross-checked details with advocates and experts.

ICE did not answer questions about whether the vehicles belong to the agency. In response to questions about the Los Angeles clip, ICE spokesperson Mike Alvarez told NPR that officers "do not use personal or rental vehicles" in operations and cited federal rules that allow certain enforcement vehicles to operate without government plates when identification would interfere with their duties.

Darius Reeves, a former ICE field office director in Baltimore who left the agency this year, said such practices were unheard of during his tenure. "The agency clearly wants to appear like a ghost," he said. "I have never experienced this."

Videos and eyewitness accounts also suggest officers have been swapping plates. A TikTok filmed in Round Lake, Illinois, shows a man dressed like a federal agent saying "we change the plates out every day," while walking around an unmarked Jeep. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias reposted the clip, condemning the apparent plate-swapping as illegal. "No one, including a federal agent, is above the law," he said. Alvarez later said the officers in that video were Border Patrol.

In Los Angeles, activists with Harbor Area Peace Patrol say they have repeatedly observed officers at a Terminal Island staging area removing plates from cars. "We've seen that multiple times," said activist Elijah Chiland. He and others also reported vehicles leaving the site with mismatched front and rear plates.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told NPR that agents sometimes wear masks to protect themselves but declined to confirm whether the filmed vehicles belong to federal personnel.

Advocates and police officials warn that unmarked cars undermine public trust. "Most people are not used to interacting with federal law enforcement on our streets," said Bruno Huizar of the California Immigrant Policy Center, adding that anonymity makes it harder for people to assert their legal rights.

David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, added that removing or swapping plates can obstruct oversight. "There's no way to track back, 'This person was using this vehicle,'" he said. "These are basic principles of liberal democracy that we've just taken for granted."