Federal Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents have been the center of controversy as news outlets report officers carrying out raids in public spaces, often in plain clothes and with covered faces. More frequently, interactions between ICE and local communities are met with escalating hostility and violence. Community members report that ICE agents routinely carry out arrests without identifying themselves, which some say poses significant public safety risks.
Hans Menos, a vice president at the Center for Policing Equity stated “Let’s think about an area like Philadelphia or Texas, where the average gun ownership rate is maybe higher than the rest of the country, and the unidentifiable masked man wants to snatch somebody off the street, and someone wants to intervene because they think it’s an illegal act happening.” Menos went on to say, “Pretending that can’t happen is really naive.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration claims that by hiding immigration agents’ identities, they are keeping them safe and preventing them from becoming targets of assault and doxing.
Read the full article on Stocktonia’s website.