RICHMOND, Va. — U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Democrats from Virginia, introduced a proposed law that would ban law enforcement from wearing masks to hide their faces and require their names and agencies are displayed.
The introduction of the Immigration Enforcement Identification Act comes as some Americans have expressed concerns over masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained suspected undocumented immigrants in cities across the nation.
"Communities around the country have been clear: we should not have armed, masked, and unidentified individuals prowling around neighborhoods and snatching people off the street," Sen. Warner said in a statement about the proposed legislation. "This conduct poses a great risk for everyone involved, from the officers themselves to well-intentioned bystanders who may misunderstand the situation. Despite the risks, our local police officers, state troopers, national guardsmen, and even members of the armed forces interact with communities every with full-faced transparency – the kind that creates trust and helps hold us all to higher standards. I’m proud to introduce this legislation to hold ICE to the same standards that the vast majority of American law enforcement are held to."
In a recent interview with CBS News, acting ICE director Todd Lyons said while he was not a "proponent" of agents wearing masks, he would not move to end it over concerns about officer safety.
"If that's a tool that the men and women of ICE to keep themselves and their family safe, then I will allow it... I do kind of push back on the criticism that they don't identify themselves," he told CBS News.
Warner and Kaine said their bill does address some officers' concerns.
"Our bill would also help to protect these officers and agents and their families from doxing and physical harm by giving them the tool to take their personal information such as their home addresses off the internet," Sen. Kaine added in a statement.
In addition to ICE agents, the act would prohibit masks for Border Patrol (BP), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), and U.S. Marshals.
When asked to comment about the Immigration Enforcement Identification Act, a senior Department of Homeland Security officials shared the following statement:
"Every single day, the brave men and women of ICE step into American communities and put their lives on the line to defend public safety and national security. They arrest criminal aliens, violent gang members, foreign fugitives and child predators who have no legal right to be here and are actively endangering law-abiding citizens. Yet while our officers and agents risk everything for others, rogue activists and media mouthpieces recklessly push false narratives and dangerous misinformation, placing their political agenda above all else.
This climate of hostility doesn’t just encourage criminals; it puts our agents and officers at greater risk, and as a result, we have seen an 830 percent increase in assaults on ICE officers.
Of course, ICE officers and agents are highly trained and dedicated professionals sworn to uphold the law. They always have credentials visible and clearly announce who they are. ICE strongly condemns the impersonation of its law enforcement officers or agents. This action is not only dangerous but illegal. Imposters can be charged with various criminal offenses at the state/local level and federally (under 18 USC 912)."
ICE entices new recruits with patriotism pitch and promise of $50,000 signing bonuses
ICE is launching a recruiting campaign to entice “brave and heroic Americans” to serve as new deportation officers, lawyers and investigators as the government gears up for a major expansion of immigration enforcement thanks to a recent infusion of money from Congress.
The icing on the cake: a promise of up to $50,000 in signing bonuses.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement campaign recalls recruiting posters from World War II with images of Uncle Sam and the words “AMERICA NEEDS YOU.”
There also are photos of Trump and top homeland security officials with the words “DEFEND THE HOMELAND” across the images.
“Your country is calling you to serve at ICE,” said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a news release. “This is a defining moment in our nation’s history. Your skills, your experience, and your courage have never been more essential. Together, we must defend the homeland.”
In addition to appealing to prospective applicants' patriotic fervor, Homeland Security is making a pocketbook pitch. The agency is promising up to $50,000 in signing bonuses, the potential for lots of overtime for deportation officers and other benefits such as loan repayment or forgiveness options.
Lots of money is coming to ICE
All of this is made possible by a big infusion of money to ICE.
The package of tax breaks and spending cuts that Trump signed into law this month includes about $170 billion for border security and immigration enforcement, spread out over five years.
ICE is set to get $76.5 billion, nearly 10 times its current annual budget. Some $45 billion will go toward increasing detention capacity. Nearly $30 billion is for hiring 10,000 more staff so the agency can meet its goal of 1 million annual deportations.
New hires include deportation officers responsible for tracking down, arresting and removing people who the administration determines no longer have the right to remain in the United States.
Under the Republican president, those officers are high-profile roles — making arrests at immigration courts, in the streets and at businesses. They often are criticized by immigration activists and Democratic lawmakers for wearing masks while carrying out their duties.
On the recruitment webpage, the link to learn more about applying to be a deportation officer shows a photo of an armored vehicle rolling down a street with officers in military gear hanging onto the sides of the vehicle.
The government is also seeking criminal investigators and lawyers who will prosecute immigration cases.
The agency said it will advertise at college campuses, job fairs and law enforcement networks, starting this week. But the recruiting drive has raised concerns about what happens if the agency grows too fast.
Staffing is a long-standing challenge
ICE staffing has long been an issue, said Jason Houser, a former agency chief of staff during the Biden administration.
At the beginning of the Trump administration there were roughly 6,000 officers within ICE tasked with monitoring noncitizens in the country, then finding and removing those not eligible to stay.
Those staffing numbers remained largely static over the years even as the caseload ballooned. During the Biden administration, when the number of people arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border skyrocketed, ICE workers were often pulled from their regular duties to go to the border.
“ICE does need more employees to handle the volume of what they’re handling,” Houser said.
But he is concerned about whether the rush to increase staffing could mean lower standards for recruits and training.
The Border Patrol’s rapid expansion during the early 2000s serves as a cautionary tale. To meet hiring goals, training and hiring standards were changed. Arrests for employee misconduct rose.
“If they start waiving requirements there like they did for Border Patrol, you’re going have an exponential increase in officers that are shown the door after three years because there’s some issue," he said. At the same time, Houser noted the Department of Homeland Security has dismantled some of the key agencies that have provided some level of oversight over ICE and other DHS arms.
Houser estimated it would take three to four years to actually hire and train that number of new ICE staffers. In the meantime, he worries that ICE will rely on private contractors, National Guard troops and other federal law enforcement officers to meet the administration's goal of 3,000 arrests a day.
$50,000 bonus is on the high end
Chuck Wexler is the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum which studies policing issues. He said police departments across the country have struggled to maintain staffing since the pandemic and the fallout from the death of George Floyd, and are often offering hiring bonuses as a result. He’s seen bonus offers ranging from $10,000 to as much as $60,000 or $70,000 for departments on the West Coast.
But he said the $50,000 topline bonus that DHS is offering is definitely on the high end, and Homeland Security’s hiring spree could end up having repercussions on police departments across the country if their officers try to get hired by ICE.
“The environment for hiring law enforcement has never been more competitive,” he said. “This could conceivably impact state and local agencies. You could have someone leaving a police department to get a $50,000 signing bonus with DHS.”
The Associated Press and Scripps News contributed to this report.
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