Why do ICE agents wear masks and how it's eroding public confidence in some communities

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4 days ago

Videos of heavily armed individuals with covered faces and in plainclothes forcibly apprehending immigrants on the street, at workplaces or following court hearings have become common on social media.
Federal authorities say that the masks are needed to protect agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies from being doxed. But others argue the use of masks has created confusion and chaos in some communities.
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"My concern with masks and law enforcement that don't have clear identifier is that it does not make a community safer," U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, said. "It creates conditions where bad actors can mimic the use of force and the taking of people off the street. That is very risky behavior for communities."
ICE agents with masked faces and in street clothes have been filmed pointing guns at citizens in California as they carryout arrests of both U.S. citizens and immigrants. The anonymous masked arrests and disappearance of migrants has shattered the already fragile confidence in law enforcement in communities across the country and broken constitutional rights, said Michael Sierra-Arévalo, a sociologist and author of the book "The Danger Imperative: Violence, Death, and the Soul of Policing."
"We have a tradition that we have the ability legally to hold the state accountable for when the state, whether it be police officers or state official, violates our constitutionally protected rights," Sierra-Arévalo said.
"Obscuring one's face, refusing to identify oneself, covering or removing one's name badge as an officer, an agent of the state, prevents those mechanisms of accountability from working. And fundamentally, it undermines the ability for the public to trust and not only it's police but it's government."
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Federal agents must identify themselves and their agencies, according to laws governing immigration enforcement.
The New York City Bar Association claims the use of masks violates rules, pointing to Title 8 of the U.S. Code, which states that at "the time of the arrest, the designated immigration officer shall, as soon as it is practical and safe to do so ... identify himself or herself as an immigration officer who is authorized to make the arrest."
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"The decision to begin concealing the faces of law enforcement agents who are carrying out arrests and detentions appears to be an effort to evade accountability," the association said.
The lack of clear identifiers and the aggressive actions by federal agents raise concerns over the possibility of escalations and violence as fear takes hold in communities.
"It's a disaster waiting to happen," Sierra-Arévalo said.
The Trump administration has shifted federal agents to focus on immigration enforcement, deploying agents from the ICE, the Department of Homeland Security's investigative unit alongside agents from the U.S. Border Patrol and the FBI.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin posted on the social media X that ICE agents have faced a "500% increase in assaults."
'When our heroic law enforcement officers conduct operations, they clearly identify themselves as police while wearing masks to protect themselves from being targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers," a DHS spokesperson said when asked about the use of face masks.
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The anonymous DHS spokesperson went on to criticize the press for focusing on the use of masks. They did not respond to concerns over the public confidence in federal agents.
El Paso County leaders condemned the language of "terrorism" being applied to immigration enforcement.
"This administration purposely conflates people who are in this country without authorization with immigrants in general, and then conflates immigrants with criminals and terrorists," El Paso County Commissioner David Stout said. "This rhetorical sleight of hand constitutes a big lie — that immigrants, authorized or not, pose the type of danger that warrants turning our country and our values and our constitutional protections inside out."
The state of California is pursuing legislation that would make it a misdemeanor for local, state and federal law enforcement officers to cover the face. It also would require officers to wear identification at all times.
The "No Secret Police Act" was proposed by state Sen. Jesse Arreguín, D-Berkeley and Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco on June 16.
'The recent federal operations in California have created an environment of profound terror," Wiener said in a statement. "If we want the public to trust law enforcement, we cannot allow them to behave like secret police in an authoritarian state."
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El Paso County adopted a resolution to call on the federal government to respect constitutional norms and that prohibits the use of masks.
The resolution follows other Texas counties, including Hayes and Travis counties, which have adopted similar declarations.
"I would consider masked agents with guns, unmarked vehicles, and paramilitary gear roaming neighborhoods and grabbing people from workplaces, homes, courts and even schools and churches to be contrary to basic American freedom," Stout said.
Jeff Abbott covers the border for the El Paso Times and can be reached at:[e-mail]; @palabrasdeabajo on Twitter or @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: ICE agents are wearing masks in raids, experts raise concerns