What to know
- New York Attorney General Letitia James and 20 other state attorneys general are urging Congress to ban immigration agents from wearing identity-concealing masks during operations.
- The proposed legislation would require agents to display agency affiliation and name or badge number, citing concerns over public confusion, civil rights, and impersonation risks.
- Federal officials defend the use of masks because of a 700% increase in attacks on agents, and Republican opposition to the bills make it unlikely for the measures to advance.
By Dave Goldiner
Source New York Daily News
NEW YORK — Attorney General Letitia James is pushing Congress to pass legislation barring immigration agents from wearing masks to conceal their identities.
Branding Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a “secret police force operating in the shadows,” James and 20 other Democratic state attorneys general joined a letter urging legislation to end what they call a widespread and dangerous effort to prevent people from identifying agents.
“It is deeply disturbing that … masked agents can pull people off the streets in unmarked cars without ever identifying themselves as law enforcement,” James said in a statement. “Congress needs to act now to ensure that all law enforcement agencies, including ICE, are held to basic standards of transparency, accountability, and respect for civil rights.”
The AG’s want new legislation to specifically bar ICE, border patrol and other Department of Homeland Security agents who enforce immigration from wearing non-medical face coverings such as masks or balaclavas that prevent the public from identifying them.
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The proposed measure would also order agents to clearly display their agency name or acronym and either their name or badge number.
Federal law already requires immigration agents to identify themselves when detaining suspects “as soon as it is practical and safe to do so. But the attorneys general say current ICE practices routinely ignore that rule.
Immigration agents have started regularly wearing masks and taking other steps to conceal their identities when rounding up suspected undocumented immigrants or others during enforcement operations.
The issue has become more widespread as President Donald Trump pushes his plan for mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants.
Protests erupted last month in Los Angeles after masked agents swooped down on day laborers gathered outside big box home improvement stores. Foreign-born graduate students have been accosted on tree-lined suburban streets or outside college dorms by masked agents and bundled into unmarked ICE vans.
The perceived problem is likely to spread since Congress recently appropriated billions more for immigration enforcement in Trump’s sprawling Big Beautiful Bill.
Some detainees have said they thought they were being kidnapped by criminals or foreign agents when arrested by ICE agents, and authorities say criminals and gangs have started taking advantage of the immigration crackdown to commit robberies and kidnappings.
Tom Homan, the tough-talking Trump border czar, defended the practice of agents’ wearing masks, insisting that attacks on agents have skyrocketed in recent months as the crackdown has picked up pace.
“We never had the scale of attacks on ICE we have now — up 700% attacks on ICE, doxing against ICE agents,” Homan told Politico on Monday.
Several Democratic-sponsored bills have already been introduced in both the House and Senate to rein in immigration agents. Republican leaders do not plan to allow the measures to reach the floor of Congress for votes, meaning they are unlikely to be enacted any time soon.
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