Trump border official: Blame Congress for ICE masks
President Donald Trump’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, says that if Americans object to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents wearing masks during their often warrantless detentions of undocumented immigrants, they should take it up with Congress—which, he claims, is fueling the controversy by comparing ICE to Nazis.
In recent months, numerous reports have surfaced of ICE agents—some wearing masks and lacking identifying patches—detaining undocumented immigrants, lawful residents, and even U.S. citizens, sparking widespread outrage across the country.
The acting head of ICE, Todd Lyons, on Sunday defended agents wearing masks, and said he would continue to allow them.
“As Donald Trump has ramped up his unprecedented effort to deport immigrants around the country, ICE officers have become notorious for wearing masks to approach and detain people, often with force. Legal advocates and attorneys general have argued that it poses accountability issues and contributes to a climate of fear,” The Guardian reported.
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While acknowledging he is “not a proponent of the masks,” Lyons told CBS News on Sunday, “if that’s a tool that the men and women of ICE [need] to keep themselves and their family safe, then I will allow it.”
But some state and local officials want to ban the practice.
“Images of masked, armed agents in plain clothes grabbing people off the streets and rushing them into unmarked vehicles have alarmed many Americans — and put pressure on lawmakers to respond,” Axios reported on Saturday. “A growing number of Democratic-leaning states and cities are weighing proposals to ban federal immigration agents from wearing masks and require them to display IDs when making arrests.”
Tom Homan, speaking to MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough on Tuesday, said that the practice of wearing masks will continue, but he alleged the blame lies with Congress—and specifically its “far-left” members.
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“Look, the masks, I think, are important,” Homan said. “How do we get rid of the masks? Stop the hateful rhetoric. The assaults on ICE officers are up 800%.”
“I specifically mean members of Congress. If members of Congress can compare ICE to the Nazis, that gives some of those people on the far left—the out-of-control people—it emboldens them to take action.”
“I’m just asking, let’s stop the hateful rhetoric. If you question what ICE does, then let’s go to Congress and talk about the immigration law and what changes are needed, but again, they’re simply enforcing the law that they’re required to enforce and uphold the oath that they took to enforce those laws.”
There is no law that says ICE is required or allowed to wear masks—or banned from doing so.
“There is no constitutional protection or ban on immigration agents wearing masks or face coverings,” The Washington Post reported on Monday.
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