Attorney General Bonta, Multistate Coalition Urge Congress to Advance Legislation Requiring Immigration Agents to Identify Themselves

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a multistate coalition in sending a letter to Congressional members urging them to advance legislation prohibiting immigration agents from wearing masks to conceal their identity and requiring them to show their identification and agency-identifying insignia, with limited exceptions. In light of recent events, this legislation is necessary in order to protect the public, ensure accountability, and preserve the reputation and effectiveness of law enforcement at every level of government. 

“Transparency and accountability are the foundation of good law enforcement, yet in recent weeks, ICE agents have begun the shocking and unacceptable practice of deploying masked agents to carry out immigration enforcement operations,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The Trump Administration continues to tout their alarming and undemocratic law enforcement tactics as part of their inhumane anti-immigration agenda, completely ignoring the severe risks these tactics pose to public safety and basic civil liberties. If federal authorities are confident that their practices are lawful and just, they should not fear identifying themselves. We call upon Congress to advance legislation to ensure that federal agents properly identify themselves and uphold the principles of transparency and accountability that are crucial for public safety and trust.” 

The images of masked, armed men, dressed in plainclothes and traveling in unmarked vehicles, snatching people from streets, homes, workplaces, and courthouses have become common in recent weeks and are now emblazoned in the public consciousness. These detentions are alarming, as the imagery evokes comparisons to repressive tactics that have no place in a free country. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officers are now routinely using masked agents who do not identify themselves as law enforcement to carry out arrests in public spaces – which has the effect of terrorizing communities rather than protecting them. 

The concealment of officers’ identity limits the ability of individuals to challenge unlawful government acts, stripping citizens of their basic rights to hold government actors accountable. Furthermore, the lack of clear identification goes against federal standards for law enforcement conduct. Under 8 C.F.R. 287.8(c)(2)(iii), immigration officers are required at the time of arrest to identify themselves as such, as soon as it is practical and safe to do so. ICE’s practices also reduce accountability and transparency within law enforcement, as they prevent the public from reporting and seeking recourse for unlawful practices or violations of rights that occur during an arrest. This lack of accountability further erodes public trust and encourages, rather than deters, rights violations by federal law enforcement. 

In the letter, the attorneys general argue that ICE’s tactics pose significant public safety risks. The confusion generated by masked, plainclothes agents makes it difficult or impossible for individuals to know whether they are being legally detained by an ICE agent. Without proper identification as law enforcement, witnesses to these arrests could reasonably believe a kidnapping is underway, which may lead them to intervene or call on local law enforcement for assistance, creating unsafe situations and tying up important local resources.

As former ICE official Scott Shuchart noted, this situation could be “setting ourselves up for a kind of vigilante problem where people either don’t know, or at least aren’t sure, that these officers who are dressed up like bank robbers are actually law enforcement officers.” This jeopardizes not only the safety of the targets of enforcement actions, it also jeopardizes the safety of ICE agents themselves. Individuals who are unsure whether they are being detained by legitimate law enforcement or are being kidnapped may understandably choose not to obey commands and instead unknowingly resist law enforcement efforts. These tactics have also reportedly given rise to horrific incidents of impersonation of officers, where individuals seeking to extort or do harm have posed as immigration officials to victimize others.

While measures to protect the identity of federal agents are sometimes necessary, the commonplace use of masks and the failure of ICE to identify themselves as law enforcement makes everyone less safe and weakens the integrity of our justice systems. Acting Director Todd Lyons has defended the use of masks by citing concerns about harassment against agents and their families, ignoring the severe risks posed to public safety and civil liberties. To the extent these concerns are warranted, they can be resolved through targeted, less repressive means that befit a free country.

In sending this letter, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.  

A copy of the letter is available here.