Accused ICE impersonator in Fife was filming YouTube prank, per police
Mar 31, 2025, 7:50 PM
A 26-year-old has been accused of pretending to be with ICE as part of a YouTube prank. (Photo courtesy of Homeland Security and Fife Police Department)
(Photo courtesy of Homeland Security and Fife Police Department)
A 26-year-old Auburn man is accused of impersonating federal immigration agents as part of a so-called YouTube stunt that reportedly left a local Ukrainian community shaken.
Ilya Kukhar pleaded not guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge of second-degree criminal impersonation after allegedly driving a black Ford Explorer鈥攎ade to look like a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle鈥攖hrough the parking lot of Emish Market in Fife on March 16. Court records say the SUV bore white “ICE” lettering and a Homeland Security-style decal, but it was misspelled as the 鈥淪.U. Department of ICE Deliveries.鈥�
Surveillance video reviewed by Fife police showed the SUV repeatedly circling and blocking access to the store.
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According to a probable cause affidavit, Kukhar circled the market several times, at points blocking the entrance and honking, alarming store employees and customers鈥攎any of them Ukrainian immigrants鈥攚ho feared they were being targeted by real ICE agents.听The Department of Homeland Security later confirmed the vehicle was not affiliated with any federal agency and noted that federal charges could be considered.
According to , Kukhar admitted to police that he was filming for a YouTube video and said it had been 鈥渂lown out of proportion.鈥� He noted he’s Ukrainian, too.
Police were also sent a video by a local reporter that showed a man鈥攁llegedly Kukhar鈥攚earing ICE-style gear, handcuffing another person, and placing them in the SUV.
