Proposed DHS Uniform Ban: Immigration Officers Can No Longer Wear Anything Saying 'Police'

This bill, officially titled the Combating Deceptive Immigration Enforcement Practices Act of 2025, makes one very specific change: it bans federal immigration officers from wearing the word “police” on their uniforms or accessories while performing their duties. This rule applies to agents working for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), both part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The Uniform Change: What’s Being Banned?

The core of Section 2 is simple: if you are an immigration officer conducting enforcement, you cannot have the word “police” written anywhere on your gear. The stated goal here is to combat what the bill calls “deceptive immigration enforcement practices.” For years, advocates have raised concerns that when federal immigration agents wear gear that looks like local police uniforms—sometimes even using unmarked vehicles—it can confuse people into thinking they are interacting with local law enforcement. This confusion can be a significant issue, especially in communities where local police have policies against assisting federal immigration enforcement.

Why This Matters on the Street

For the average person, this change aims to bring clarity. Imagine you’re at a coffee shop or construction site and see an officer. If they are an ICE or CBP agent, this bill means their uniform will clearly identify them as federal agents, not local police. The benefit is clear: it helps prevent the public from thinking that local police are involved in federal immigration enforcement, which is often a key concern for immigrant communities and civil rights groups. It’s about ensuring that federal agents can’t easily blend in or be mistaken for the officers who handle routine community policing.

The Flip Side: Operational Clarity vs. Public Safety

While the intent is to prevent deception, this restriction does raise a practical question about immediate identification. Federal law enforcement agents, whether they’re ICE or CBP, are still law enforcement officers who carry out critical duties, including responding to dangerous situations. By specifically banning the use of the widely recognized term “police,” the bill restricts how these agents identify themselves to the public. In a high-stress or emergency situation, immediate and clear recognition of a federal agent could be crucial for public safety and operational effectiveness. The bill is very specific about banning the word “police,” but it doesn’t say anything about other identifiers. This narrow focus might be too restrictive for clear identification in certain scenarios, potentially complicating interactions where the public needs to know immediately that they are dealing with a federal law enforcement agent.