Why Do ICE Agents Wear Masks? Find out Why The Agents' Faces Are Covered

As the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency continues the Trump Administration's assault on immigrants nationwide, many are wondering why ICE agents wear masks during arrests.

Mass arrests are happening in state after state as Trump continues his deportation efforts, and protesters have criticized plain-clothed federal agents wearing masks as they detain international students on campuses, at their homes, and even at their immigration court hearings.

According to CNN, people are questioning the tactics ICE employs during the arrests, as well as their authority to wear masks. So, why do ICE agents wear masks?

ICE Director Todd Lyons claimed that the reason ICE agents wear masks is to protect their identity during raids, per The New York Post.

"So, a lot of agencies were invited to come out two weeks ago in Los Angeles," he said. "We ran an operation where ICE officers were doxed. So, let's just say that again — people are out there taking photos of the names, their faces, and posting them online with death threats to their family, and themselves."

The ICE director went on to say that he was sorry if people were offended by the masks.

"I'm sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I'm not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line, and their family on the line because people don't like what immigration enforcement is."

"They are wearing those masks because we ran an operation with the Secret Service," he added. "We arrested someone that was going online, taking their photos, posting their families, their kids' Instagram, their kids' Facebooks, and targeting them. So, let me ask, is that the issue here? That we're just upset about the masks, or is anyone upset with the fact that ICE officers' families were labeled terrorists?"

The director also claimed that "ICE doesn't just scoop people off the street and remove them. Everyone gets due process."

The director was not entirely correct, as several people, including U.S. citizens, have been detained and/or deported by overzealous ICE agents, per New York Magazine's Intelligencer. One child undergoing cancer treatment was deported to Honduras with his mother but without his medication.

A man born and raised in Chicago said "ICE officers grabbed him from behind, handcuffed him and put him in a van with other detainees," outside of a pizzeria, despite him having his driver's license and Social Security card in his wallet.

The Trump Administration says that more than 200 migrants who were deported to EL Salvador are suspected of being gang members. They were deported under the Alien Enemies Act, per Newsweek.

One detainee, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was deported and sent to the infamous CECOT prison by mistake. Attorneys for the Trump administration called the move an "administrative error" but are refusing to bring him back to the U.S. Garcia's lawyers are currently appealing his removal.