Patricia Krentcil, better known as “Tan Mom,” claims she was stopped by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who questioned whether she was an American citizen because of her deeply tanned appearance. The New Jersey woman described the alleged encounter on a recent episode of her Light. Tan. Up. with Tan Mom & Adam Barta podcast on YouTube.
The 58-year-old claimed she had been eating at a restaurant with friends, and as they were done eating, the “ICE people stopped” her. According to her account, they asked whether she was a U.S. citizen, leaving her stunned by the interaction.
“Because I was so tanned, they were about to handcuff me and take me away [to] God knows where because once you get in those trucks, you don’t know where you’re going anymore,” she claimed. She was reportedly “scared” by the “terrifying” situation, but she “held [her] own” ground and managed to get out of it.
She has a history
Krentcil believes her complexion was the reason the agents allegedly stopped her. She also criticized President Donald Trump, accusing him of “supporting all this nonsense.” The alleged encounter is not the first time Krentcil has attracted widespread attention because of her tanning habits. In 2012, she was arrested and charged with child endangerment over allegations that she had allowed her six-year-old daughter to use tanning beds, according to CBS News.
The allegations followed a report from a nurse at the child’s school, who claimed the girl had told her that she went tanning with her mother. Krentcil strongly denied the accusations. “We presented all the available evidence in the case to the grand jury, both the state’s evidence and the defense’s evidence. The grand jurors voted not to indict Mrs. Krentcil. We respect their decision,” said Assistant Prosecutor Gina Iosim, according to Fox 2 Now.
In an earlier interview with Vice, Krentcil maintained that her daughter had suffered a sunburn from being outdoors rather than from using a tanning bed. She also recalled how the controversy helped turn her into a viral personality after she appeared on local news and declared, “I like to tan.”
This is not the first time ICE has allegedly stopped a person without any legitimate reasons. With the increasing instances of ICE intentionally hurting people and shooting citizens in several states, Mayor Mamdani and several human rights organizations have rallied to ban the organization from their states.
Published: Oct 23, 2026 09:45 am