The Department of Homeland Security has circulated a Be on the Lookout alert to law enforcement agencies across the country, and it specifically targets a comedian who has been making waves with his satire of US immigration enforcement, The Guardian reported. This alert, commonly referred to as a Bolo, centers on Ben Palmer, a stand-up comedian and prankster based in Nashville.
If you have spent any time on TikTok or YouTube lately, you might have seen his videos where he records phone calls with people who genuinely believe they are reporting immigrants to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These videos have racked up millions of views, but they have also caught the attention of federal authorities in a way that is pretty wild to consider.
The federal bulletin was issued by the Nashville field office of the Department of Homeland Security in February. It appeared about a week before a profile was published regarding Palmer, which was prompted by a kindergarten teacher who used his parody site to report one of her student parents. She was apparently under the impression that she was communicating directly with the government, which shows just how convincing his setup can be.
The alert was later shared by the Illinois state police to a distribution list that includes various state and local law enforcement agencies
This information came to light after the Chicago-based journalism non-profit Injustice Watch obtained the document through a series of public records requests. It is not entirely clear how many other departments across the United States might have received or shared this alert, as the current investigation is focused on the situation in Illinois.
The document itself is titled “Online Immigration Impersonation” and explicitly notes that Palmer, who is a US citizen, operates a satirical website impersonating a submission form, which acts as a mechanism for reporting suspected illegal aliens. The authorities included a screenshot from the spoof website and two screenshots from his YouTube channel, which had 807,000 subscribers at the time the alert was captured. They even included his photograph to ensure he was easily identifiable to officers.
While it is true that Palmer uses language on his site like official report form and claims that reports are submitted through official federal channels, he does not actually claim to be an employee of ICE. Furthermore, his privacy policy contains a clear disclaimer that the site is for parody.
It is interesting to note that even the Department of Homeland Security had to admit in the alert that the comedian does not pose a danger to anyone. The alert reads, “At this time, there appears to be no direct threat to life or infrastructure.” A spokesperson for the department mentioned in an email that there is no investigation into this individual and that the document was merely an internal memo shared for awareness purposes. They added that law enforcement and civilians should be aware of potential websites and individuals impersonating federal law enforcement.
Palmer himself was completely unaware of the alert until he was contacted by a reporter from Injustice Watch. He seems to view this development as a strange badge of honor, even though he is naturally concerned about the potential for this kind of monitoring to escalate into an arrest.
As he put it, “To be honest, for me, it’s the best of both worlds. I don’t get arrested but I still get to say that the Department of Homeland Security created a document about me, which is … in my line of work I always look at these things as more like certificates, badges of honor.” He continued by saying, “The government wastes a lot of time in tax dollars, for sure, but when you have your own little section on that, it’s kind of like, I feel honored.”
From a law enforcement perspective, this is a bit of an outlier. Darius Reeves, who is a retired ICE field office director, explained that Bolos typically include terms like “considered armed and dangerous,” “approach with caution,” or “do not approach at all.” These alerts are usually reserved for serious threats to public safety. Reeves noted that while he understands why immigration authorities would be wary of a fake tip line, he still finds it unusual for a Bolo to be issued for a comedian.
The Illinois statewide terrorism and intelligence center shared the alert for situational awareness purposes. While the Illinois state police director, Brendan Kelly, did not respond to questions regarding why his agency circulated the alert, a spokesperson named Melaney Arnold stated that the center routinely and quickly disseminates information produced by other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. She added that they do so with the understanding that the originating agencies have done their investigative due diligence to disseminate credible and important information.
This is not the first time a comedian has been targeted by the agency for satirizing immigration enforcement. Earlier this year, federal officers detained Rob Potylo while he was wearing a giraffe costume and protesting against ICE in Minneapolis. Potylo had also been detained by federal officers in Portland, Oregon, the previous year.
Additionally, in 2018, agents showed up at the Brooklyn home of comedian Jake Flores after he posted a series of satirical tweets about ICE. Esha Bhandari, who directs the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, suggested that this Bolo could be seen as part of a larger pattern of the Department of Homeland Security targeting private citizens who are critical of the agency. She noted that the federal agency has to know that by taking any official law enforcement action against someone, that they’re intending to scare people away from speaking out against them.
Palmer is now hoping to get support from First Amendment attorneys, especially now that his name has been distributed nationwide to law enforcement. Despite the pressure, he insists that it will not stop him from continuing his work. He said, “I don’t want to get arrested, but it would be nice to have a footnote in the history of comedy.”
Published: May 22, 2026 07:30 pm