“Attacks and demonization of our enforcement have contributed to our officers facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults,” said Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE.
Pennsylvania Democrats are championing a new bill that seeks to prohibit Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from wearing masks or face coverings during operations, raising questions about public safety, law enforcement authority, and federal overreach.
The proposed legislation, dubbed the “No Secret Police” bill, was introduced by state Sens. Nikil Saval and Amanda Cappelletti. The bill requires officers to wear clearly marked uniforms and display their agency affiliation at all times, including during immigration enforcement.
Democrats unveiled the measure during a rally last week outside the ICE field office in Philadelphia, where they accused ICE agents of operating like “secret police” and spreading fear among illegal immigrants.
According to Saval, allowing agents to wear masks “effectively dehumanizes enforcers” and renders those whose legal immigration status is being questioned “invisible.” Likewise, Rep. Rick Krajewski, who is backing companion legislation in the Pa. House, referred to masked agents as “federal vigilantes who don’t even have the courage to identify themselves.”
Critics, however, say the bill is less about transparency and more about undermining federal immigration enforcement at a time when illegal immigration and violent crime are rising across the country. The legislation comes as President Trump continues to take a harder line on deportations and border enforcement than the previous administration.
ICE agents and law enforcement officials say the use of face coverings is a matter of safety when agents operate in high-risk areas or investigate violent criminal activity, including gang activity tied to organizations like MS-13.
“If an ICE officer or agent chooses to wear a mask to protect themselves from being doxed and targeted by highly sophisticated gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13, criminal rings, murderers, and rapists, they clearly identify themselves as law enforcement,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement. “Attacks and demonization of our enforcement have contributed to our officers facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults.”
Even ICE’s acting director, Todd Lyons, acknowledged the need for discretion. “I’m not a proponent of the masks, however if that’s a tool that the men and women of ICE [use] to keep themselves and their families safe, then I’ll allow it,” he told CBS News.
President Trump himself, when asked about the potential for a nationwide ban on masked agents, emphasized the significance of keeping law enforcement officers safe, saying, “I want to do whatever’s necessary to protect our great law enforcement people, and they are right at the top of the list.”
But Pennsylvania Democrats are pressing forward, claiming that masked ICE agents “instill terror” and “spread chaos” in communities.
District Attorney Larry Krasner claimed the legislation is necessary to stop “a crime wave of people pretending to be ICE.” He cited a case in June where a man impersonated an ICE agent during a robbery in Philadelphia.
Republicans in Harrisburg are likely to oppose the bill, which has not yet been formally introduced in the state Senate. With the GOP holding a majority, its chances of passing are slim.
