Democrat lawmakers in California, New York, and Massachusetts want to ban the use of face coverings and plainclothes by ICE and other federal enforcement agents during immigration actions. Pennsylvania is another state considering a bill to require visible identification of these federal officers.
Leftist leaders in Chicago, Illinois, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, and several towns in Southern California are also considering proposals to ban masks and require agents to wear IDs.
Even Democrats in the House of Representatives introduced the No Anonymity in Immigration Enforcement Act, which would require clear identification displayed ICE agents during enforcement operations in the U.S.
However, Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is pushing back on the idea saying, "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."
Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, says this is all about safety.
"The issue here is that there has been about an 800-percent increase in assaults on ICE officers.” Mehlman explains. “So, there are lives in danger. Their safety is in danger. Their families are in danger; and so, it becomes necessary for them to protect their identities because you have this violence being perpetrated against the federal law enforcement officers.”
Mehlman says this violence is being instigated and abetted by overheated rhetoric from politicians.
"They may not like the policies of this administration. They may not like ICE – and that's perfectly within their right, but when you cross that line and start inciting violence against law enforcement officers or obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration law, that's a whole another matter, and there needs to be accountability,” says Mehlman.
