Democratic officials in several states and cities are considering proposals to ban ICE agents from wearing masks and requiring them to display IDs when taking people into custody, reports Axios.
Lawmakers in California, New York and Massachusetts are discussing or have introduced legislation that would ban the use of face coverings and plainclothes by ICE and other federal enforcement agents during immigration actions and local leaders in Chicago, Albuquerque, New Mexico and several towns in Southern California are considering proposals to ban masks and require agents to wear IDs.
The increase in high-profile immigration enforcement was already contentious between those opposed to the actions of Trump’s administration and those in support of them. The sight of masked agents carrying it out is creating a whole new level of conflict, in a way that has no real comparison in the U.S. history of policing.
“I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line, their family on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd Lyons said last month.
In a letter to Lyons last week, a group of Democratic senators said the stepped-up immigration enforcement in workplaces, restaurants and other sites was already causing dismay and the increasingly common sight of masked agents “represents a clear attempt to compound that fear and chaos – and to avoid accountability for agents’ actions.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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