ICE Poses as Utility Workers

According to NPR, ICE agents have changed license plates and put Mexican flag stickers on their cars in an effort to entice and detain people. Additionally, utilities in Oregon are now taking action to make sure that their clients don’t confuse ICE officers for their staff. 

NW Natural, a natural gas company that serves two million people in southwest Washington and Oregon, released guidelines in seven languages in December on how to determine if a person is truly an employee. Similar guidelines are available on the website of Portland General Electric. Employees of NW Natural will never request instant entrance to a customer’s house; instead, they will wear a uniform and a utility badge that reads “contractor.”

 According to the guidelines, its employees often request access to a back or side yard in order to use a meter. According to David Roy, a spokesman for NW Natural, the firm decided to release the guidelines after learning about instances of people pretending to be utility staff.

Source: Oregon Capital Chronicle