Is ICE following rules for ID'ing itself in migrant arrests?

(NewsNation) — With U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers being pressed by the White House to arrest thousands of migrants each day, how they are carrying out their mission remains under scrutiny amid complaints the agency is shrouded in secrecy.

Democrats are pushing legislation that would require federal immigration officers to identify themselves properly and to operate without their faces covered. Lawmakers claim ICE’s tactics “endanger public safety by creating confusion, fear and mistrust” in communities migrant advocates say have been terrorized by threats of arrests and deportation.

Department of Homeland Security officials insist officers and agents are acting properly despite significantly rising cases of ICE officers being assaulted. But the Trump administration’s insistence that ICE put 3,000 migrants in custody per day is putting officers in a very dangerous position, a former ICE official told NewsNation.

“The eye is off the ball for public safety, and it’s about the quota,” Jason Houser, the agency’s chief of staff between 2021-23, said. “The ICE officer is now the sword of the political class in the White House.”

What are the rules for immigration officers identifying themselves?

According to the Code of Federal Regulations,  federal immigration officers are required to identify themselves “as soon as it is practical and safe to do so”.  

The rules stipulate that officers are required to inform a person that they are being arrested and for what reason. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 requires federal officers responding to a civil disturbance to visibly display identifying information of the officer and the agency they represent unless they are working under cover.

But some insist that’s not happening, including Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who said federal officers are “pulling people off the street” with their faces covered and dressed in civilian clothing. Booker and Sen. Alex Padilla are among the lawmakers to introduce bills that would force ICE officers to show their faces.

Houser said that by officers attempting to arrest migrants while dressed in hoodies and other non-identifiable items, officers put themselves and colleagues from other federal immigration agencies at risk.

ICE is leaving how officers dress to the discretion of individual field offices, which is creating confusion among the general public, Houser said. Houser said ICE and other federal immigration enforcement agencies often act outside the bounds of other law enforcement organizations.

“There is no policy, there is no stance, there is no procedure for what they are doing,” Houser said, adding, “Nobody conforms in this way and acts in this manner.”

However, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin argued in a statement to NewsNation that federal immigration agents and officers “clearly identify themselves as law enforcement” despite needing to protect themselves from “highly sophisticated gangs” by covering their faces.

The ICE mask debate intensifies

ICE Director Todd Lyons told NewsNation that officers rarely wore masks before President Donald Trump took office in January. However, citing rising attacks being reported on federal immigration officers who also face doxing threats, some officers have been forced to mask their identities.

“They don’t want to wear those masks, but it’s for their own safety,” Lyons said. “If I could figure out a way that we could do it and they could do their job safely, I would love to sit down with lawmakers and come up with some solution to that. But until I can assure the men and women of ICE and their families are going to be protected, I’m going to let them do whatever they need to do to protect themselves.”

However, Houser said that by covering their faces, federal officers are creating confusion about whether they are true federal employees or part of a growing number of people who have been accused of impersonating federal officers. Other complaints include that federal officers are using unmarked cars as part of their operations.

While acknowledging that some DHS officers are working undercover, a spokesperson for the agency told NewsNation that some of the claims being made against DHS are "getting a little desperate."

In June, Huntington Park, Calif., police arrested a man who had previously been arrested on human smuggling charges. Police alleged that he had a loaded gun, passports and materials purporting him to be a federal immigration officer in a vehicle that was parked in a handicapped spot.

The city’s mayor, Arturo Flores, said that the incident highlighted the fear that exists among a largely immigrant population due to the uncertainty of whether people claiming to be federal officers actually work for immigration agencies.

“Masked agents, unmarked vehicles and refusal to identify yourself is not the image of a just and lawful government – it is the image of fear," Flores said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., has accused ICE of inflaming tensions by allowing officers to cover their faces.

“If they are standing on lawfulness, they shouldn’t be afraid to show their faces,” Swalwell said on “CUOMO”. “No other law enforcement agency operates routinely the way that they’re doing, and it’s terrorizing people.”

The California arrest came weeks before DHS officers recently refused to identify themselves in Chicago, where 10-15 vehicles pulled up to the National Museum of Puerto Rican Art & Culture and remained for nearly two hours.

Museum workers said federal officers refused to show identification or inform employees why they were there. DHS said the visit was not immigration-related and was instead connected to a narcotics investigation being conducted by a Homeland Security Investigations financial task force.

"Why didn't (officers) say that before, and why didn't (they) identify yourselves to the folks there so they didn't have to sound the alarm that this type of activity was occurring?" Chicago Ald. Gil Villegas told NewsNation. "Had they said that, it would have never escalated."

While Democrats of migrant advocates push for more federal transparency, Houser puts much of the blame for how ICE officers are being treated squarely on the White House, citing calls by Border Czar Tom Homan and others for the number of migrant arrests to continue by whatever means necessary. He said as long as those directives remain in place, federal officers will remain under a difficult spotlight.

Homan said that while many are complaining about the 3,000 daily arrest figure, calculations would require federal officers to make 7,000 arrests per day to capture the migrants that Homan said former President Joe Biden allowed into the country.

“When you have quotas on arrests and you’re now targeting non-criminal working migrants, this is what happens,” Houser told NewsNation. "ICE agents are put at risk, where they’re personally going to be targeted because of a really bad policy.”

NewsNation's Ali Bradley contributed reporting to this story