PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A bystander video showing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents moving in on a Providence man as he held two small children has put fresh attention on how far the city has gone to keep its own officers out of immigration work.
In the footage, several agents close in around the man, who has one child in each arm while the children cry. Agents pat him down and photograph him with their phones. When the person filming asks whether they have a warrant, the agents say they do, and one of them later warns the bystander to step back while reaching for pepper spray. A car nearby shows front-end damage on the driver side, with a tire pushed against the curb.
Federal guidance generally calls for agents to give a parent the chance to arrange care for minor children before an arrest goes forward, unless there are signs of abuse or neglect. Whether that happened in this case has not been made public.
Providence leaders have spent more than a year drawing lines between city police and ICE. In September 2025, Mayor Brett Smiley issued an order called A Safe Providence for All, which bars city officers from serving as immigration agents or asking people about their status. Two months later, the City Council approved changes to the Community-Police Relations Act that block officers from volunteering to aid immigration enforcement or working with it without a warrant.
Those steps followed a July 2025 crash on Alverson Avenue involving an ICE agent, when body camera video showed city officers helping federal agents in an immigration search. City rules, though, do not stop federal agents from operating on public streets, since they act under federal authority.
Section: More Providence RI crime news
Filed under: Providence RI Public Safety News
