Stripping away the ICE masks

Democrat lawmakers hit on new way to fight President Trump's deportation effort. By Ana Ley

- By Ana Ley

From New York City to Los Angeles, images of immigrants being handcuffed by armed federal agents who are clad in plainclothes and balaclavas have become an indelible symbol of President Donald Trump’s deportation crackdown.

Now, Democratic elected officials around the nation are coalescing around an effort to disrupt the arrests by prohibiting law enforcement officials from concealing their identity in public.

In California, lawmakers introduced a measure in June that would prevent such officials from covering their faces on the job and require them to wear uniforms with clear identification.

State and city officials in New York said they would pursue a similar initiative, with the clear target being federal immigration authorities, especially those who occupy the hallways of courthouses waiting to take immigrants into custody.

“We're in the midst of an autocracy, and we will not stand for it,” said Tony Simone, a state Assembly member and a Manhattan Democrat who drafted the proposal in New York.

Republican leaders seem certain to challenge the plan in court, setting up jurisdictional battles as liberal cities and states endeavour to protect immigrants from the president's widening dragnet.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the effort to unmask federal agents who work for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has undermined their safety.