The Springfield City Commission unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday asking federal immigration agents to follow the city’s rules by wearing masks, even though local officials have no authority to levy such a mandate.
However, given the lack of authority to take such a measure, it is effectively a request to federal authorities.
“The City does not have the legal authority to require federal agencies or their officers to follow these policies, and this resolution does not impose any mandate,” Springfield’s communications director wrote in an email, WTDN-TV reported. “Rather, it formally communicates longstanding community concerns regarding transparency, accountability, and public safety, and respectfully asks for voluntary cooperation in the interest of maintaining public trust and preserving the peace within our community.”
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Tuesday that Ohio officials are preparing for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents potentially coming to Springfield to deport thousands of Haitian immigrants who could lose their Temporary Protected Status at the beginning of the next month. More than 500,000 Haitian immigrants, with 15,000 of whom are currently living in Springfield, could lose their TPS on Feb. 3.
The commission passed the resolution after “several” city residents urged it to require that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents identify themselves and to bar them from wearing masks, according to the Springfield News-Sun.
“We implore federal law enforcement agents to adhere to these requirements to protect public safety and promote accountability,” Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said, per the report.
Prior to the proposal of the resolution, City Commissioner Larry Ricketts said that he would support it to ensure public safety, highlighting that a Neo-Nazi group demonstrated in the city in 2024 while wearing masks.
“How are we to know a week from tomorrow the people that are showing up here in masks are not the same people?” Ricketts said, per the report. “It’s very easy to go out and buy camouflage. It’s very easy to go out and buy identification that somehow makes you look like a law enforcement officer.”
However, there is no federal law that prohibits federal law enforcement agents from wearing masks or otherwise concealing their identities. Federal lawmakers could change that if they wanted to do so.
According to the Code of Federal Regulations, an immigration officer should, “as soon as it is practical and safe to do so,” identify himself or herself as “an immigration officer who is authorized to execute an arrest, state that the person is under arrest, and the reason for the arrest.” The officer, however, is not required to identify oneself by name.
ICE previously justified its officers wearing masks by saying they prevent agents from being doxed.
In another attempt to ensure accountability and transparency, at least for officers at the local level, U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, who called the Trump administration’s use of ICE “chaotic” and “deadly” in a Jan. 9 Substack post, announced that he secured $1 million for Cincinnati police officers to purchase new cameras.
“This bipartisan win shows what Congress can do when we work together. Bringing $1 million to Cincinnati for new cameras will give law enforcement what they need to stop criminals and hold them accountable. Every child and family deserves to feel safe in their neighborhood,” he wrote in his press release.
In Ohio, everyone may wear a mask unless two or more people intend to commit a misdemeanor, under a 1953 state law enacted to deter Ku Klux Klan activity. Anti-ICE protesters have worn masks at protests, including one last December in Columbus.
Multiple polls, including those by YouGov and CBS News, indicated that the majority of people oppose ICE wearing masks, with 50 to 58%, depending on the poll, saying that they don’t want the immigration agents to wear masks.
