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Following a surge in arrests by hidden federal immigration agents armed with unmarked cars, some California Democrats are supporting a new bill in Congress that bars officials from covering their faces while raids.
Introduced by Rep. Nydia Belazkez (D-New York) and co-hosted by more than 12 Democrats, the No Masks for Ice Act makes it illegal for federal agents to cover their faces while enforcing immigration, unless necessary for safety or health.
The bill also requires agents to clearly indicate their name and agency affiliation on their clothing during arrest and enforcement activities.
Rep. Laura Friedman (D. Barbank), who co-hosted the bill, said Tuesday it would create the same level of accountability as California’s unified police force and federal agents.
“If an agent is masked and anonymous, it cannot be accountable,” Friedman said. “It’s not the mechanism of democracy. It’s not the mechanism of our country.”
The bill directs the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration and customs enforcement, to establish discipline procedures for officers who comply with and did not report to Congress each year.
Homeland Security Authority Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that immigration agents “explicitly identify themselves as law enforcement,” but are wearing masks to protect themselves from gang attacks and attacks from “criminals, murderers and rapists.”
McLaughlin said “devilization of our brave law enforcement” led to an increase in assaults. Fox News said Tuesday that 10 attacks were reported against agents from the end of January to the end of June 2024, up 690% year-on-year compared to 79 this year.
The mask bill does not have a Republican co-sponsor. This means that the chances of a hearing in a GOP-controlled home are slim.
“I think there are probably Republicans who are hearing the same things that I hear from my constituents.
Friedman said he hopes Republicans are concerned about government overreach and the idea that there is a so-called “deep state,” a secret coordinated network within the government, to support the bill.
The proposal was made by masked federal agents who took street clothing and camouflage fatigue, drove unmarked vehicles, and avoided displaying names, badge numbers or agency partnerships after weeks of immigration raids in Southern California. Social media sites are flooded with videos of agents who are violently detained, including dragging taco stand vendors with their arms and throwing smoke bombs into crowds of spectators.
The attack coincides with an increase in people impersonating federal immigration agents. Last week, police said they arrested a man from Huntington Park, who was driving a Dodge Durango SUV with red and blue lights and equipped with a border patrol agent.
In Raleigh, North Carolina, a 37-year-old man was accused of luring, luring and impersonating law enforcement officers after police said they had broken into Motel 6, saying he was an immigration officer and that he would have been deported if she hadn’t had sex with him.
And in Houston, police arrested a man who said he blocked another driver’s car, pretended to be an ice agent, made a fake traffic stop and stole the man’s identity and money.
Burbank Mayor Nikki Perez said on Tuesday that city officials said, “How can I know if the masked man restraining me is an ice or a trickster?”
These issues came to the “boiling point” last weekend, Perez said when a man stood up to a woman at a mysterious museum in Burbank and asked her to “act as a federal immigration agent” after seeing her documents. Staff and patrons intervened in help, Perez said, but the incident left a “new sense of fear, uncertainty.”
“Why do we keep local law enforcement agencies that risk their lives to much higher standards than federal immigration officials?” Perez said.
The House bill follows a similar bill introduced in Sacramento last month by State Sen. Scott Wiener. This prohibits immigration agents from wearing masks, but it is unclear whether the state can legally determine what federal agents’ actions or uniforms.
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