Watch: Americans strap passports to heads amid ICE raids, viral videos spark debate

Amid growing anxiety over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations across the United States, social media users are sharing viral videos showing themselves moving through public spaces with their passports and identification documents taped to their heads.

In the clips, social media creators said that the unusual act is a form of precaution, aimed at ensuring immediate proof of citizenship in the event they are questioned by federal agents. “You cannot be too careful, you gotta move with purpose now,” one TikTok user said, while another declared: “This is how we move around.”




The trend, which began in December, has increased in recent weeks alongside an intensified national focus on immigration enforcement. One of the most widely viewed videos was posted by TikTok creator @dotish001, who shared footage of himself walking outdoors with his passport taped to his head.

The video has amassed more than seven million views. “Before you ask me, ‘Are you a citizen? Where’s your passport?’, you see my passport already,” he said.

In another video, the same creator, whose profile states he is originally from Nigeria and currently based in Columbus, Ohio, appears seated in a car with his driver’s license taped to his forehead. The clip is captioned, “Excuse me Miss ICE,” with an overlay reading, “How green card holders navigate America.”

Reacting to the viral vieo, one user wrote, “I remember spy movies during the Cold War. If the setting was Eastern Europe people were randomly stopped on the street and forced to produce their “papers”. That’s where we live now.”

Similar content has circulated on Instagram and TikTok, including a December post showing a Somali-American woman in Minnesota wearing her US passport while running errands, citing fears of racial profiling.

Anti-ICE protests spread across US

The viral trend has gained momentum following the fatal shootings of two US citizens during federal immigration operations in Minneapolis. On Saturday, Border Patrol agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, after a scuffle. DHS said agents acted in self-defence, alleging Pretti was armed and resisted attempts to disarm him. Videos of the confrontation have since circulated online.

Earlier this month, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, a mother of three, was fatally shot by an ICE agent while sitting in her SUV during an operation on January 7.

Federal officials claimed the agent fired in self-defence, alleging Good attempted to run him over. However, eyewitnesses, journalists, local officials and Democratic lawmakers dispute this account, citing video footage suggesting she was attempting to drive away.

Widespread protests have followed both deaths. Broader concerns over ICE conduct have also intensified, with 32 people dying in ICE custody in 2025, the agency’s deadliest year in two decades, alongside allegations of arrests without due process, detention of minors and racial profiling.