Expert alarmed as ICE moves beyond 'papers please' to something more dystopian

For years, fear has raged in liberal and libertarian circles that the immigration enforcement machine could be weaponized into a so-called "papers, please" system, where federal agents can demand that anyone prove their citizenship on the spot to avoid arrest. But under President Donald Trump, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears to already be doing something much more drastic than that, warned American Immigration Council fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick.

Specifically, he argued, ICE no longer even cares if you have papers on you — if they want, they'll round you up and run you through their system to determine your identity.

In a recent such incident, he highlighted, a Navajo man in Peoria, Arizona, was stopped by federal agents, who refused to recognize the tribal ID he produced.

According to The Arizona Republic, Peter Yazzie "was unaware that ICE was expanding operations throughout Phoenix and surrounding cities. Parked at a QT gas station between Peoria and Sun City near his job site, his morning began as usual, waking at 4 a.m. for his 5 a.m. shift. As he was getting ready, several SUVs pulled in, two with their lights on. He assumed it was a drug raid, never imagining it was ICE targeting him." When they identified themselves, Yazzie said, “I’m Native American. My information is all in my vehicle.” And he explained those documents included his birth certificate and Certificate of Indian Blood. The agents, however, refused to accept this ID, instead detaining him for four hours until they finally let him go with no apology.

In some cases, ICE is demanding people submit to a facial recognition scan, as they did with Jesus Gutierrez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen in Chicago.

Incidents like these represent something terrifying, Reichlin-Melnick wrote on X.

"This echoes many other claims; in multiple incidents nationwide, ICE officers have ignored peoples' identification documents and insisted on bringing people in to have their biometrics checked," he wrote. "It's less 'papers, please,' then 'stand very still for your scanning, or else.'"