Comedian Ben Palmer is not an ICE officer, but his elaborate prank has given him a unique insight into the kinds of anonymous tips the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) might receive. Since January 2025, Palmer has been running a fake tip line for reporting undocumented immigrants, posting the calls on YouTube and incorporating them into his stand-up comedy. After a year and a half, the Nashville-based comedian says he has received hundreds of calls. Callers report neighbors who gave them a side-eye, their friend's immigrant nanny, or even someone in the neighborhood driving a car deemed too nice for them to own.
In one clip, a woman complains, 'Yes, I've seen a 20-something-year-old immigrant female driving a brand new Corvette. I'm driving a '95 pickup that's about halfway running right now, and all these illegals are out here driving nice cars, buying up properties. I'm like, what in the world is going on?' In another call, a man seeks to have his estranged wife deported. He says, 'My wife came here on a spouse visa. I've got issues with her and she left me. She filed for divorce, and I wanted to know if you could help me to file that back.' Palmer deadpans, 'You want to get your wife deported?' The man replies, 'If it is possible, would you like us to go ahead and deport her?' 'Yes,' the man admits. These callers mistakenly reach Palmer's fake tip line instead of the real DHS anonymous tip line.
A DHS spokesperson told The Washington Post that the agency is 'aware of a fraudulent YouTube page falsely representing ICE' and 'strongly condemns any actions intended to mislead the public or impersonate official government entities.' Palmer told HuffPost, 'Most of the people calling say they think they are supposed to do this, that it's their American duty to report people. Then there are people who want revenge on their enemies and are using the hotline to carry it out for them.'
Public Skepticism of Immigration Enforcement
While DHS emphasizes that its agents focus on deporting the 'worst of the worst' undocumented immigrants with criminal records, high-profile cases like the detention of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos in January have fueled public skepticism. According to a Politico poll last month, more than half of Americans believe President Donald Trump's immigration agenda is 'too aggressive,' while 26% say it is 'about right' and 11% say it is 'not aggressive enough.'
Vigilante Reporting Exposed
Palmer's fake tip line reveals how far some Americans will go to police one another. In one jarring call, a kindergarten teacher from the suburbs reports her U.S.-born student's parents, who are from Central America. Palmer, playing the unfazed DHS worker, confirms, 'Teaches at school, wants kindergarten child's parents deported.' The teacher laughs, 'You make it sound terrible!' After each call, Palmer messages the caller back, claiming officials investigated and confirmed the person or family is in the country legally. Then, in his trademark deadpan, he slips in a joke at the caller's expense, often revealing the prank.
To the woman complaining about her Latina neighbor's nice car, Palmer quipped, 'We did ask her if she could sell it and downgrade to just a bicycle. She wasn't up for that.' Palmer noted, 'Sometimes they don't want to believe it when I call back. Others accept it and seem to be OK with it, and other times they seem a little annoyed. But one person found the video I posted of her and now she calls and leaves me voicemails filled with expletives. They are pretty funny. I listen to them before I go to sleep at night.'
