A state law banning federal agents from wearing masks on duty has been stalled in federal courts. The Trump Administration has further cut the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) body camera program and reduced staffing in the agency\u2019s internal oversight.<\/p>\n
Though the issue has rallied democratic lawmakers and civil rights groups to criticize the practice by ICE agents as an attempt to evade accountability, the federal government has maintained that masks are necessary for officer safety and has actively challenged efforts to reign in on constitutional grounds.<\/p>\n
In its recent statement<\/a>, the City Bar called on Congress to ban law enforcement from concealing their identification and attacked federal agents\u2019 widespread use of masks and other forms of identity concealment as \u201cundermining the rule of law,\u201d sowing fear and encouraging human rights violations.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has become apparent that federal immigration agents and other federal law enforcement officers\u2019 use of masking or other means of obscuring their identity, like foregoing badges, have sowed fear and distrust of law enforcement, and potentially emboldened violations of rights,\u201d the City Bar wrote in its statement. \u201cFurthermore, masking to conceal the identity of law enforcement agents serves no legitimate purpose. Law enforcement officials throughout the country go unmasked and reveal their identities through nametags and badges; federal law enforcement agents should be no different.\u201d<\/p>\n As part of the state budget, New York state passed a package of immigration-related bills that contained a law banning all state and federal officials \u2014 ICE agents included \u2014 from masking up on the job, except for specific safety conditions. In August, however, a federal judge in the Northern District of New York<\/a> blocked the law from taking effect in response to a lawsuit that the Department of Justice filed against New York over the measure.\u00a0<\/p>\n