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submitted 5 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

Legal advocates and attorneys general argue practice poses accountability issues and contributes to a climate of fear

The head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) said on Sunday that he will continue allowing the controversial practice of his officers wearing masks over their faces during their arrest raids.

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.

On Sunday, Todd Lyons, the agency’s acting director, was asked on CBS Face the Nation about imposters exploiting the practice by posing as immigration officers. “That’s one of our biggest concerns. And I’ve said it publicly before, I’m not a proponent of the masks,” Lyons said.

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[-] [email protected] 107 points 5 days ago

They wear masks because they’re ashamed.

[-] [email protected] 102 points 5 days ago

Because they don't want to be hunted after this chapter of American history is slammed shut.

And it might take years or even decade++, but this chapter will eventually close.

[-] [email protected] 11 points 5 days ago
[-] [email protected] 12 points 5 days ago

There will be a leak. It will be far too late to matter but it will come out one day. I hope they all lose their middle manager jobs at Staples and can't afford their insulin.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 5 days ago

Probably all in the list of pardoned people 🤔

[-] [email protected] 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I was banned from Reddit for daring to suggest such a thing there. Even though Nazi hunters are a thing.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago

Nothing will happen. Did anything happen to the police who killed unarmed kids, and innocents without any other reason other than the colour of their skin.

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[-] [email protected] 44 points 5 days ago

I think they just don’t want to be held accountable for their actions. I’ve seen no evidence of any shame.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

Which means they're working triple overtime supressing it.

[-] [email protected] 18 points 5 days ago

Absolutely not. Anonymity is power and lack of consequences. That’s what the masks are for.

[-] [email protected] 11 points 5 days ago

Every video I've watched where their masks are down and they're speaking, they don't look or sound like white Americans.

They look and sound like Federales.

Small sample size but just an observation.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

you overestimate them

they wouldn't do this if they didn't like it

[-] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

Plenty of people are ashamed of their antisocial habits.

[-] [email protected] 28 points 4 days ago

I thought they can’t breathe with masks. Interesting.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Psychologists call it selective autoasphyxiation. It's quite a common thing in facist regimes, particularly amongst the political and enforcement classes.

[-] [email protected] 49 points 5 days ago

So terrorist still wear masks.

[-] [email protected] 29 points 5 days ago

The Attorneys said "Wearing masks poses accountability issues and contributed to a climate of fear"

DEA Chief said: "Correct." or "So you get why we need them?"

[-] [email protected] 49 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

What about taking the license plates off of their vehicles ?

Is that still legal ? Because vandalizing their cars is a way of dealing with that.

And I've read that glitter-splashing is another way of dealing with their masks.

[-] [email protected] 17 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I keep wondering if their cars have run flat tires.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

Even run flats aren't going to take you very far if they're missing their valve core, which is easily accessible from the outside of the vehicle

[-] [email protected] 38 points 5 days ago

...the people in control of the government are ok with fucking kids...

[-] [email protected] 8 points 5 days ago

Yeah. That's where we're at. Trump is okay with kids getting fucked.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

I thought republicans were supposed to rabidly hate pedophiles. Wasn't that their excuse for the hatred against LGBT people?

[-] [email protected] 12 points 4 days ago

"ICE chief says he wants agents to get killed attempting to illegally kidnap people"

[-] [email protected] 33 points 5 days ago

Here's a thought. Everyone should wear masks again like it was the pandemic. Then ICE can't easily identify you.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

Everyone didn't wear masks during COVID! And we all know who most of the ones that didn't are. All this would do is put a target on anyone wearing a mask that isn't in camo.

[-] [email protected] 26 points 5 days ago

Cowards and hypocrites

[-] [email protected] 25 points 5 days ago
[-] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Yes. Them and their benefactors. Money creates cowards.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago

Terrorist leader approves of terrorist practices next at eleven!

[-] [email protected] 19 points 5 days ago

It's going to end up contributing to a climate of violence. Mark my words.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago

Which is exactly what the sociopaths in power want. So they have an excuse to ramp up enforcement and implement martial law so they can inflict more violence.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago

Pussy snowflakes are embarrassed about what they do. They fear people might treat them and their families the same way they're treating brown families.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Videos have flooded social media showing Ice agents wearing masks over their faces, detaining people without immediately identifying themselves, refusing to answer questions or explaining why people are being detained, and pushing them into unmarked cars with tinted windows.

As well as the tens of thousands of arrests, there have been several reported cases of masked criminals posing as Ice officers, such as a man in Raleigh, North Carolina accused in January of kidnapping and raping a woman, threatening to deport her if she didn’t comply, or a man in Brooklyn attempting in February to rape a 51-year-old woman. In April 2025, a Florida woman posed as an immigration officer to briefly kidnap her ex-boyfriend’s wife from her job.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

Law enforcement that truly believes they have the law on their side can police out in the open.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

Why don’t they just wear pointy hoods while they’re at it? Seems like they might think it’d be oh-KKK.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago

In a way it's understandable... if there is a chance that you might be targeted for doing your job then wearing a mask is the right choice to protect yourself and your family.

I mean, it's not THAT uncommon: SEK and other more "militarized" police units in Germany also wear masks during raids for the same reason.

[-] [email protected] 27 points 5 days ago

Continue to justify this, your comment will someday be viewed in the same way they spoke of gestapo supporters

[-] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago

You deny that other police forces mask up to prevent harm for themself or their families?

[-] [email protected] 10 points 5 days ago

In which world does 'those other assholes do it' count as an ethical defense?

[-] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago
[-] [email protected] 8 points 5 days ago

Seriously. Interact with this idea a little bit and see if it stands up to logic.

[-] [email protected] 9 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

If police did their job correctly, they would not be afraid of the community they serve.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

You seem to misunderstand what the police's job is

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

ICE wishes they were SWAT. But they're not out there defusing bombs or breaking up a gun rings, they're chasing farm hands and abducting abuelas. So yeah, they're scared but not of the people they are going after.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

Yeah, wouldn’t want anyone breaking down the doors to their homes or picking them up off the streets into unmarked vans or stalking their kids while they’re at school, basically just disregarding all of their rights, that would be so fucked up to do that to anyone, right? What kind of person could ever justify doing that to people?

this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2025
402 points (100.0% liked)

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