you
think
they
know
they
look
like
the
bad
guys
here?
(Photo
by
Andres
Kudacki/Getty
Images)
Safeguarding
the
legal
rights
of
all
persons
confronted
by
federal
law
enforcement
officers
is
all
the
more
important
where
this
administration’s
actions
have
already
resulted
in
the
unlawful
detention
of
visa-holders,
legal
permanent
residents,
and
United
States
citizens,
the
denial
of
due
process
to
wrongfully
detained
individuals,
and
defiance
of
court
orders
demanding
their
return,
alongside
an
escalating
practice
of
detaining
individuals
as
a
reprisal
for
the
exercise
of
their
First
Amendment
rights.
Just
as
no
democratic
government
should
seek
to
avoid
answering
to
its
people,
no
law
enforcement
officer
should
seek
to
avoid
the
scrutiny
required
to
ensure
their
actions
comport
with
the
law.
In
the
absence
of
the
ability
to
identify
individual
masked
agents,
those
who
supervise,
authorize,
and
oversee
their
actions
should
also
share
liability
for
the
deprivation
of
rights
under
the
Constitution.
Allowing
masked
[U.S.
Immigration
and
Customs
Enforcement
(ICE)]
agents
to
conduct
detentions
also
makes
it
increasingly
likely
that
third-party
actors
will
impersonate
federal
agents
and
use
their
anonymity
to
subject
vulnerable
populations
to
harassment
and
violence
under
the
apparent
color
of
law. In
recent
months,
ICE
agents
have
regularly
refused
to
present
warrants
when
requested.
Coupled
with
the
new
practice
of
face
coverings
during
detentions,
it
becomes
nearly
impossible
to
distinguish
the
conduct
of
an
imposter
from
that
of
an
authorized
agent.
Even
before
this
apparent
mask
policy
went
into
effect,
a
rise
in
crimes
perpetrated
by
individuals
impersonating
ICE
agents
and
other
law
enforcement
officers
–
including
harassment,
theft,
extortion,
assault,
battery,
sexual
assault,
and
kidnapping
–
was
being
reported.
Tragically,
at
this
writing,
the
suspect
in
the
recent
shootings
of
Minnesota
state
legislators
and
their
spouses
—
two
fatally
—
allegedly
disguised
himself
as
a
police
officer
when
approaching
them
at
their
respective
residences
at
the
time
of
the
attacks.
—
New
York
City
Bar
Association
issued
a
statement
critical
of
ICE’s
alarming
new
trend
of
conducting
arrests
while
masked,
saying
it
“appears
to
be
an
effort
to
evade
accountability,
and
to
decrease
transparency
in
response
to
increasing
allegations
of
government
overreach,
abuse
of
power,
and
violations
of
constitutional
rights.”
The
statement
continues,
“ICE
agents’
use
of
masks
not
only
screens
potential
abuses
of
power
and
shields
officers
from
accountability,
it
is
part
of
a
pattern
of
government
actions
enabling
the
rise
of
repressive
and
authoritarian
tactics.
The
images
of
people
being
grabbed
off
the
street
by
masked,
armed
men,
shoved
into
unmarked
vehicles,
and
taken
away
to
unknown
locations
bears
a
fearsome
resemblance
to
the
oppressive
tactics
of
authoritarian
regimes,
methods
of
repression
meant
to
eliminate
opposition
and
instill
terror.
We
must
not
tread
this
path.”