Why Do ICE Agents Wear Masks? -- Tom Sullivan [View all]

[erronis]

https://digbysblog.net/2025/05/11/why-do-ice-agents-wear-masks/

Welcome to Oz

A few weeks ago I recalled the first time, decades ago, when I saw police with submachine guns at a foreign aiport. It was a “not in Kansas anymore” moment. It felt very foreign. It was also a “no place like home” experience.

That memory surfaced after a report of Customs and Border Patrol agents searching an Amtrak train in Montana for noncitizens. In another story that week, CBP detained an American originally from Lebanon for hours when he reentered the U.S. from Canada.

ICE arrested the mayor of Newark, N.J. last week outside a privately run ICE detention facility there. Many of the officers wore masks, as we’ve seen in other arrest videos since January 20. This too feels foreign. And new. I keep having that “not in Kansas anymore” feeling.


“When did ICE agents begin wearing masks?” I asked Google. The AI replied:

ICE agents began wearing masks, including neck gaiters, during President Trump’s first term in response to concerns about being publicly identified and the potential for personal and family safety threats. Critics had protested outside homes of some agents, leading to a shift in policy. While not explicitly banned, the decision to wear masks is often left to the discretion of an operation commander, according to recently retired ICE agents. The use of masks, particularly during high-profile arrests, has raised concerns about transparency and the potential for misrepresentation.

Meaning ICE makes provisons for possible threats to its agents’ personal and family safety while threatening the personal and family safety of people it snatches off the street.

Good to know. Welcome to Oz.