While attacks on ICE agents surge, Blue state Democrats are pushing a bill that would force ICE agents to unmask and display their name or badge.
The Visible Identification Standards for Immigration-Based Law Enforcement (VISIBLE) Act was introduced by Sens. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and Alex Padilla, D-California, on Tuesday.
Republican leaders and Trump administration officials have slammed the proposal, especially in light of heightened violence, doxxing and coordinated attacks on ICE facilities.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised immigration agents as “great patriots” and said that forcing them to remove their masks and show identification would “put them in great danger, tremendous danger.”
“It’s sort of funny, when people picket in front of Columbia, in front of Harvard and they have masks on… Nobody complains about that,” Trump said, speaking at a White House event. “But when a patriot who works for ICE or border patrol puts a mask on so they won’t recognize him or his family, so they can lead a little bit of a normal life after they worked so hard and so dangerously, there is [a] problem with that.”
The usual leftists are behind the VISIBLE Act, which targets Department of Homeland Security personnel, including Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, federal agents detailed to immigration operations and deputized state or local officers.
Under the bill, agents would be required to display identification, including their agency name or initials and either their name or badge number, and it cannot be obscured by tactical gear or clothing.
The law also would bar agents from wearing nonmedical face coverings, including masks and balaclavas. The bill includes exceptions for officer safety, such as the use of a gas mask if police are using gas to disperse a crowd, and does not apply to covert or non-public operations.
Anti-ICE protestors and rioters turn out en masse with face masks, backpacks and tactical gear while they throw bricks and fireworks at police. And in an era where everyone has a phone and the new ICEBlock app encourages people to report ICE activity, the stakes are high for ICE agents and their families.
Border Czar Tom Homan blames the political grandstanding and hostile rhetoric by Democratic members of Congress for assaults on federal agents and defends the masking of ICE agents.
“This is a well-planned attack, and it’s because of the rhetoric,” Homan said of the weekend attacks in Texas, speaking on FOX News in a clip shared on social media. “These nuts that want to take it beyond protests… they’re getting rhetoric from members of Congress… we’re NOT going to stop enforcing immigration law.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, also has called out Democratic lawmakers for villainizing ICE agents, leading the charge for obstruction and ignoring the ambush attacks on law enforcement officers.
He said President Trump is trying to restore law and order in Blue states and cities, and the Democrats should be held responsible for vilifying ICE agents.
“The most damning thing about this is this absolute silence from the Democratic party,” Mullin said in another news clip shared on X. “If this was any other time, you’d have every Democrat out there saying we need gun control.
Democrats are reportedly urging their base to ‘get shot’ in support of the anti-Trump agenda and feeding into this aggression against law enforcement and ICE agents who are just trying to do their job.
“These are sworn officers that are getting criminals,” Mullin said. “These aren’t immigrants. These are criminals.”
“Every Democrat leader should be condemning what happened. And yet they haven’t said a single word about it,” Mullin added.
Democrats have grown increasingly desperate to thwart Trump’s deportation agenda, including supporting resistance efforts and anti-ICE protests, calling ICE agents “terrorists” and staging public stunts to get arrested.
In June, Padilla tried to disrupt Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference in California. He approached her without identifying himself, which led to his removal and arrest by federal agents — a scene that quickly went viral.
On Monday, Axios published a report quoting a Democratic lawmaker saying: “Our own base is telling us that what we’re doing is not good enough … [that] there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public.”
Last month, House Speaker Mike Johnson called out the hypocrisy of the Democrats pushing for ICE agents to identify themselves. He noted they are the same “people who mandated mask wearing for years in America” during the coronavirus pandemic.
“From the people who mandated mask wearing for years in America. It’s absurd,” Johnson told FOX News. “They need to back off of ICE and respect our agents and stop protesting against them. They’re trying to uphold the rule of law, and they don’t want to be targeted by Democrat activists. So, I’m in favor of whatever protocol.”
At a press conference in June, Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended agents concealing their identities.
“We ran an operation where ICE officers were doxed,” Lyons said. “People are out there taking photos of the names and their faces and posting them online with death threats to their family and themselves, so I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line and their family on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is.”
