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U.S.|Several Accused of Impersonating Agents Amid Trump Push on Deportations
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/us/ice-raids-deportations-false-reports-impersonators.html
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At least three people in three states have recently been charged with pretending to be immigration agents, the authorities said.
Feb. 6, 2025, 3:24 p.m. ET
At least three people in three states have been arrested recently on charges that they had impersonated immigration agents or police officers to threaten others amid mounting efforts by the Trump Administration to increase deportations.
On Saturday night, two students at Temple University in North Philadelphia identified themselves as “Police and Ice agents” to security at a residence hall and disrupted a nearby dessert shop, according to university officials and the Philadelphia Police Department. One of the two students, Aidan Steigelmann, 22, was arrested and charged with impersonating an officer, the police said.
A third person, who was described as a “former student who is no longer affiliated with the university,” also joined the two students. The episode was recorded by one of the three people involved, the university said. It was not clear what had happened inside the dessert shop.
Efforts to contact Mr. Steigelmann were not successful.
The continuing investigation into the students’ behavior in the cookie store was among the latest examples of Americans threatening others based on their perceived immigration status.
Since taking office, the Trump administration expanded the powers that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency have to quickly remove some undocumented immigrants. Increased I.C.E. activity has been documented nationwide. Mr. Trump also moved to block asylum seekers from entering the country and then attempted to end birthright citizenship in a move that has since been paused.
In another case, Sean Michael-Emmrich Johnson, 33, of Huger, S.C., was arrested Monday on Sullivan’s Island in connection with a traffic encounter on Jan. 29.
