Can ICE agents wear police vests?
Executive summary
ICE agents can and have worn vests that look like or literally say “POLICE,” a practice documented by advocacy groups, congressional offices and news reporting and criticized as misleading to immigrant communities [1][2][3]. The agency also uses a wide range of clothing—from plainclothes to tactical gear and marked DHS/ICE vests—and maintains that agents display badges and agency identifiers during operations, a coexistence that fuels legal, policy and public-safety disputes [4][5][6].
1. How the practice shows up in reporting: documented use of “POLICE” vests and plainclothes ruses
Multiple organizations and reports show ICE agents sometimes conduct operations in plainclothes and tactical gear and have worn vests labeled “POLICE” during arrests and so‑called ruses, with firsthand accounts describing agents who told residents they were the police while concealing ICE credentials [1][7][3]. The Immigrant Defense Project catalogued examples of agents wearing vests that explicitly said POLICE across the front and using that appearance to represent themselves as local law enforcement, and local reporting and legal filings have echoed that pattern [1][7][3].
2. What ICE and federal materials say about identification and apparel
ICE’s public materials emphasize that its mission is law enforcement and state the agency uses badges and identifiers, while other official statements defend masks and nonstandard clothing for officer safety and anti‑doxxing reasons [6][5][4]. At the same time, internal and public images of operations show no single standard uniform across the agency; reporting notes agents in military‑style tactical vests, plainclothes, gaiter masks and occasionally gear marked with ICE, ERO or DHS—creating mixed signals about how agents present themselves [4][8].
3. Legal and political friction: impersonation concerns, lawsuits and congressional pressure
Critics argue that using gear marked “POLICE” or pretending to be local officers undermines community trust and can be unlawful impersonation when used deceptively; Members of Congress pressed ICE to stop displaying “POLICE” on jackets and vests, and lawsuits have alleged deceptive practices including wearing “POLICE” vests to gain entry without warrants [2][3]. These complaints highlight a tension between federal enforcement tactics and state/local relationships—local police departments have warned such tactics make immigrants less likely to report crimes or cooperate with investigations [2].
4. The agency’s public defense and the security rationale
ICE and DHS officials argue that tactical gear, masks and sometimes ambiguous clothing are necessary to protect officers from retaliation, doxxing and violent criminal networks, and that agents display badges and other indicators of authority during operations, framing equipment choices as safety measures rather than intent to impersonate local police [5][8]. That stated motive has political resonance with law‑and‑order constituencies and with officials worried about targeting of officers, but it sits uneasily alongside community accounts of confusion and misrepresentation [5][9].
5. What this means in practice and the unresolved questions
In practice, the answer is straightforward: ICE agents can and have worn police‑style vests and plainclothes, and those choices have been documented and challenged [1][4]; what remains contested is whether particular uses cross legal lines or violate departmental policy and how frequently such practices occur, because public sources document incidents and critiques but the government’s aggregate data and clear, binding national uniform policy are not publicly available in the material reviewed here [3][6][9]. The debate therefore centers less on whether vests exist—which they do—and more on rules, accountability, and the downstream effects on public safety and cooperation between communities and local law enforcement [2][9].