ICE agent impersonator at Dearborn grocery store concerns immigrants

At a Kroger store in Dearborn on a recent Saturday morning, attorney Majed Moughni was grocery shopping when he was approached by a slim man wearing all black clothing and covering most of his face with a mask or scarf.

Moughni said the man asked him: “Do you have a visa?” He said he asked.

Moughni said he replied: “Excuse me?” The man then repeated the visa-related question during the shoot and asked Moughni additional questions such as “Are you legal?”, “Where were you born?”, “I need to see your visa” and “I need to see ID”.

Moughni, a Lebanese immigrant, said he “initially thought he might be an ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agent” but did not see other people around him dressed as agents.

The encounter on Jan. 31, 2026, which Moughni described to the Free Press, left the lawyer discouraged and may be part of a growing trend. People impersonating ICE agents The United States is increasingly targeting immigrant communities. in October, The FBI issued a bulletin Obtained by Public Property through a public records request to law enforcement, warning about “Criminal actors impersonating ICE agents.” And this comes at a time when Dearborn has become a target of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant extremists who frequently film their encounters, as the man at the Kroger allegedly did.

A store employee told Moughni that the man who approached Moughni also approached a self-checkout cashier, asking her similar questions and questioning other customers as well. ICE agents are increasingly asking people Media outlets reported that random people, including citizens, provided information about their immigration status, identity, and proof of citizenship.

More: 2 immigrant detention cases in Michigan highlight ICE and CBP fears

Dearborn police responded to the scene after Moughni asked security to call 911. In the video Moughni shot and shared with the Free Press, an officer can be seen talking to the self-checkout cashier. Other officers in four police cars then went to the Kroger and obtained surveillance footage, according to a store security official. The man walked across the parking lot to the parking lot and a store employee took a photo of him.

“He was more or less trying to look like an ICE agent without having the defining characteristics of an ICE agent,” said Moughni, who works civil rights cases as an attorney. “It was pretty nerve-wracking, like they could literally take me away and I have nothing. I don’t have a passport on me or anything I could use to save myself. If they could do that to me, and I know the law, they could really scare a lot of people.”

In some cases last year, ICE detained people without proof of citizenship.

ICE did not respond to questions about the incident at the Kroger store in Dearborn on Michigan Avenue near Outer Drive. Kroger spokeswoman Holly Smith did not respond to questions about the incident and what Kroger’s policies are regarding the operations of ICE agents at its stores or those who try to impersonate them. A security manager at the Dearborn Kroger store did not respond to a voicemail.

A spokesman for the FBI’s Detroit office did not comment on the incident but said no FBI agents were in the store that day. Dearborn Police Cpl. Dan Bartok did not respond to a message asking if police had made any arrests or identified a suspect.

After being questioned, Moughni asked the man: “Who are you?” He said he walked away and then asked the cashier: “Why do you let people come in here and ask customers where they’re from and whether they have a visa?”

Moughni said the cashier notified the store security guard, who asked Moughni to identify the person, which he did.

In the video recorded after the Dearborn officer arrived, the self-checkout cashier told the officer how she began questioning him.

“I was there greeting customers… and he asks if I have a visa,” the cashier is heard saying in the video. “Then he asked me ‘where were you born?’ he asked. “So I suddenly called it ‘Africa’.”

The cashier was white and her response to the man seemed sarcastic.

“Then he started walking in that direction and disturbing other people,” the woman said, adding that she took a photo of the man.

The Dearborn officer, who spoke to the cashier at the scene, said the man may have been “mentally unstable” or trying to make hostile videos to post on social media, such as “an agitator like a YouTube agitator or someone who is mentally lost.”

Over the past year, ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have increasingly begun using masks to cover their faces. unmarked carsIt confuses some members of the public. In some cases, people pose as ICE agents to commit crimes. A CNN report in November two dozen cases found “In 2025, the number of people posing as ICE officers in cases ranging from political agitators trying to intimidate immigrants to others using the cloak of authority to kidnap, rob, assault or rape victims.”

More: Faith leaders in Michigan call for reduced ICE funding

In the Dearborn case, the man did not appear to have committed any violent crimes, such as: some other situations Incidents reported by CNN nationwide, including kidnapping, robbery, rape or assault. But Moughni said harassment is concerning, especially in cities like Dearborn with high concentrations of Middle Eastern immigrants. Over the past year, a growing number of right-wing influencers have traveled to Dearborn and targeted Muslims for making what residents say are provocative videos with misleading messages.

“It’s scary for someone like me who is educated, knows the law, and I can only imagine how scary it would be for someone who doesn’t know the law and might not be as alert as I am,” Moughni said. “If I hadn’t stopped this, he would have continued on his way. He wouldn’t have stopped with me or the cashier. He would have just kept scaring people.”

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com

This article was first published in the Detroit Free Press: ICE impersonator at Dearborn store sparks concern among immigrants