House Democrats have called on the Trump administration to require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to be clearly identified when conducting arrests.
The Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) wrote in a letter to ICE and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leaders on Monday that the change is necessary to protect women from assaults and kidnappings by imposters.
“All our lives, we are taught to fear masked men in unmarked vehicles. We learn we should run from such men to avoid being kidnapped, sexually assaulted, or killed,” the female lawmakers wrote in their letter. “Yet, ICE is increasingly conducting raids and arrests in masks, plain-clothes, without visible identification or badges, using unmarked vehicles – tactics that cause confusion, terror, and mistrust among the public.”
“These tactics invited perpetrators of violence against women to take advantage of the chaos by impersonating masked ICE agents in order to target and sexually assault women,” they added.
The Trump administration has been carrying out a sweeping immigration crackdown, with arrests of people suspected of being in the country illegally and mass deportations.
The Democratic lawmakers cited in their letter reports of men posing as ICE agents as a means to assault women, as ICE doesn’t require clear identification for its agents and allows them to wear face coverings.
They specifically pointed to three cases — in North Carolina, Maryland and New York — where women were allegedly harmed by men posing as ICE officers.
ICE and DHS didn’t immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on the DWC’s letter.
ICE acting Director Todd Lyons recently defended policies that allow agents to wear masks and unassuming attire to protect their identities and facilitate arrests, though.
“I’ve said it publicly before, I’m not a proponent of the masks. However, if that’s a tool that the men and women of ICE to keep themselves and their family safe, then I will allow it,” Lyons said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” last month.
He also disputed claims that agents are indistinguishable from imposters, arguing that real officers typically wear clothing with an ICE insignia.
“I would push back on the notion that we aren’t identifying themselves,” he said.
