Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 5 November 2025

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters. 

FBI Warns of Criminals Posing as ICE, Urges Agents to ID Themselves

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a bulletin warning that criminals are impersonating officers from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), using its recognizable branding to carry out robberies, kidnappings and sexual assaults. The notice urges law-enforcement agencies to ensure that officers clearly identify themselves during operations and cooperate with civilians who seek verification. The FBI describes a few signs of ICE impersonation: forged or mismatched credentials, outdated protective gear, and cloned vehicle markings. 

The bulletin cites 5 incidents in 2025 that involved fake immigration officers which, in total, have included street crime, kidnappings, and sexual violence. However, additional impersonation incidents are discussed in the article above.

Analyst Comment: The mission of Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) can intersect with migrant communities, who are currently being targeted by intensified enforcement from the U.S. government, and, therefore, FBOs have seen increasing interactions with ICE agents over the past year. However, as this FBI bulletin notes, due to the current ICE policy of using masks, it is difficult to determine who is an ICE agent and who is an imposter utilizing their authority for their own gain.

FBOs should consider preparing ahead of time for the scenario of verifying an alleged ICE agent. Who should they contact in order to verify an agent? Under which circumstances would an alleged ICE agent’s actions provoke the need to verify their identity? These types of questions should be discussed with legal professionals.

9 dead, dozens injured in crowd surge at Hindu temple in southern India

A crowd surge at the Swamy Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh, southern India, killed at least nine people and injured dozens more when a queue-controlling iron grille reportedly broke during the observance of the Hindu holy day Ekadashi, as some 25,000 devotees gathered at a venue designed for only around 3,000. Eight of the deceased were women and one was a child; many injured were hospitalized while others were in shock. Authorities say the privately-run temple did not notify the government of the crowd size and was inadequately prepared.

Analyst Comment: While domestic crowd management techniques are different from the conditions seen in India, this incident is a reminder to all FBOs of the importance of putting proper mitigations in place during events that are hosted by the FBO or on FBO property. Crowd crushes are a dangerous phenomenon that can lead to death by trampling or even asphyxiation, but can be prevented by utilizing basic crowd management strategies and maintaining reasonable crowd numbers at an event.