Proposed Federal Legislation Would Ban Masks for ICE Agents
By Andrew Cain
Source Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.
What to know
- A proposed U.S. Senate bill would require immigration agents to show their faces and clearly identify themselves unless involved in undercover or tactical operations.
- The legislation responds to public confusion and safety concerns during masked ICE raid across the country.
- The authors of the bill said the act was inspired by reports of an ICE raid at the courthouse in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Virginia’s U.S. senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, introduced legislation Thursday under which immigration enforcement agents could not wear masks and would have to identify themselves as agents unless they’re working on undercover operations.
The Immigration Enforcement Identification Act would bar law enforcement officers from obscuring their faces and require that they clearly display their agency, their name and a unique identifier while conducting immigration enforcement functions.
The senators said the bill includes “some commonsense exceptions for select tactical missions and officer health and safety.”
Kaine told reporters on a Zoom call Thursday that the act was inspired by reports of an ICE raid at the courthouse in Charlottesville.
“People were very confused by the ICE agents who were trying to conduct a raid and remove people for detention and possibly eventual deportation,” Kaine said. “They were confused because the ICE agents were wearing masks and weren’t wearing anything that identified themselves as ICE agents. So, is this a gang? Are they kidnapers? Are these rogue agents?”
ICE agents shattered car window to detain Honduran construction worker in South Richmond
"I thought he was kidnapped," said Jessica, speaking through a translator. "I sat there like crazy, screaming, and I called the police."
Kaine, a former civil rights lawyer, said that tensions often already run high in crowded courthouses and that if “somebody comes in with a mask, not identifying themselves, brandishing weapons, possibly, grabbing people, telling them they need to be detained, it raises all kinds of security challenges.”
Warner told reporters on a separate Zoom call Thursday: “The standard ought to be for ICE the same as it is for the state police or for your local cop, that you should be able to identify yourself,” and people “should be able to see your face.”
“We ought to have that ability to be transparent. I can’t go on the Senate floor wearing a bag over my head and introduce a bill.”
The Richmond Times-Dispatch previously reported that ICE agents arrested a man at the Chesterfield County Courthouse July 15, and that in a June operation officers initially detained five or six foreign nationals, particularly during their initial courthouse visits before attention had been brought to the courthouse.
The Times-Dispatch also reported that on Wednesday ICE agents shattered a car window to detain a Honduran construction worker in South Richmond.
Kaine raised similar concerns about ICE agents detaining people in a community.
“Again,” he said, “you don’t know if it’s a kidnaping attempt.”
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