Patricia Krentcil, the New Jersey woman who became an internet sensation for her famously deep tan, claims she recently had a frightening encounter with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who questioned whether she was an American citizen.
Krentcil, widely known as “Tan Mom,” said the agents approached her and began asking questions.
She discussed the alleged encounter on her podcast, Light. Tan. Up. with Tan Mom & Adam Barta, and believes her heavily tanned appearance drew the officers’ attention.
“Back to the ICE issue, I was at a restaurant with my girlfriends and I walked out with my friends, as we were done eating, and the ICE people stopped me,” she said, according to LADbible.
“They asked me, am I an American citizen and I’m, like, ‘yes’, you know. It blew my mind.
“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.”
Although Krentcil described the experience as both “scared” and “terrifying,” she said she stood her ground and managed to get through the situation without being taken away.
She also criticized President Donald Trump, accusing him of “supporting all this nonsense.”
‘Tan Mom’ first made headlines in 2012
While her latest claims involve immigration officers, Krentcil has been the subject of public scrutiny before. Her distinctive appearance first attracted widespread attention in 2012, when she was arrested and charged with child endangerment over allegations involving her young daughter.
At the time, authorities alleged that Krentcil had allowed her then-6-year-old daughter to use tanning beds. The case gained national attention after a nurse at school reported that the girl had said she went “tanning with mommy.”
A grand jury ultimately declined to indict her.
“That nurse made the worst mistake of her life,” Krentcil said, according to LADbible.
“I don’t think dollars can put something on it, for what they did to us, emotionally. That school is pathetic. It was definitely a set up, I don’t care what anyone says.”
In a separate interview with TMZ, she said: “I’m innocent and it’s proven… I would never – never – put my daughter in a tanning booth. We go out shopping. That’s what we do.”
Krentcil described the allegations as a “witch hunt,” suggesting that someone was jealous of her.
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