EXCLUSIVE — Immigration and Customs Enforcement has banned deportation officers from wearing jeans and T-shirts while working in public spaces in an effort that will make police easier to spot but could risk officer safety, the Washington Examiner has learned.New guidelines issued internally on July 17 by ICE’s deportations chief, Marcos Charles, overhauled the 2023 dress and appearance requirements to give federal law enforcement a more professional look while making arrests on the street.
ICE agents are seen patrolling the halls of federal immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, NY on Monday, September 8, 2025. (Photo by Cristina Matuozzi/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)
As of June, death threats against ICE personnel were up 8,000% compared to the previous administration, according to the Trump administration.One ICE officer questioned why the agency’s Washington headquarters was focused on this given that, he said, ICE had more pressing issues at hand, including how to handle traffic stops and new recruits being sent to the field before federal background checks had been completed.“Out of all the issues, this is the one they want to focus on,” the ICE employee told the Washington Examiner. “We are not local cops. It limits the officers from conducting various forms of surveillance and intel gathering. An officer can be identified by their ballistic vest, badge. If an officer fails to put on those identifiers, then that should be addressed with the officer. Not this blanket policy.”Charles, who oversees ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, said in the four-page memo that the “image we convey to the communities we serve, our law enforcement partners, and other internal and external stakeholders, impacts their perception of not only us as individuals, but as an agency as well.”Deportation officers performing field operations, or who are out on the street, should wear “ICE identifiable attire,” and “khaki or coyote brown tactical type pants, with an ICE polo, or dark blue or black polo,” the document says.“This excludes less formal clothing such as jeans, sweatshirts or hoodies, non-collared shirts, and any clothing with graphics/screen prints. When conducting low-visibility operations, your ICE badge must be visible at the time of arrest,” the memo says. “Appropriate sweatshirts or hoodies may be worn during cold weather settings for field operations only. This includes during field operations, any operational briefings, law enforcement meetings, or other similar internal or external engagements that don’t warrant business or business casual attire but a more formal law enforcement attire.”
