LAS VEGAS — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a nationwide policy mandating a dress code for field operations. The new guidance requires officers to wear identifiable attire and display badges during arrests, addressing concerns about visibility and professionalism in the field.

The policy requires law enforcement officers performing field operations to wear readily identifiable ICE attire, including a ballistic vest during high-visibility operations. The policy mandates that arresting officers must clearly display an ICE badge while conducting arrests, including during low-visibility operations. Acting ICE Director David Venturella signed the guidance memo regarding the new dress code.

Appropriate field attire under the new policy includes khaki or coyote brown tactical pants paired with an ICE polo, or dark blue or black polo. The policy prohibits clothing such as jeans, sweatshirts, hoodies, non-collared shirts, or apparel displaying graphics or screen prints during field operations. ICE officials stated that the new dress code could be the first step toward shifting ICE from a plainclothes agency to a uniformed agency.

The new dress code policy was issued in response to fatal ICE shootings in Texas and Maine and a botched arrest attempt in Las Vegas. Two plainclothes ICE officers attempted a botched arrest on July 13 at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. Video of the Las Vegas incident shows two individuals in hooded sweatshirts tackling a man in a busy terminal. The officers abandoned the arrest after passersby approached but left the man handcuffed on one hand.

An anonymous ICE official stated that the officers in the Las Vegas incident did not present a badge when they initiated the arrest. The official said the officer attempting the arrest in Las Vegas looked like a kidnapper. The official used profanity to criticize the officers involved in the Las Vegas incident and new recruits. ICE officials stated that a wave of new ICE recruits and relaxed training standards contributed to a lack of professionalism.

The man tackled in the video was identified as Phu Nguyen, a 57-year-old Australian national who allegedly overstayed his visa. Phu Nguyen was arrested by ICE the day after the Las Vegas incident at Los Angeles International Airport. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson stated that a crowd of anti-ICE agitators surrounded officers during the attempted arrest of Nguyen. The Department of Homeland Security spokesperson stated that officers did not proceed with the arrest to de-escalate the situation and ensure officer safety.

Nick Wilson, senior director of public safety policy at Center for American Progress, said unidentifiable immigration enforcement is dangerous, instills fear, and erodes public trust. Wilson added that real public safety requires holding federal agents to the same standards of visibility, training, state and local oversight, and independent investigations of civil rights violations as local law enforcement.