Every day, in communities nationwide, police officers do their jobs with a high degree of transparency: The public can see the officers’ faces, badge numbers, rank and, in most instances, even their last names featured on uniforms. Though many cops are forced to deal with threats and violence, there isn’t a police department in the United States that allows officers to wear masks or hide their identities while they carry out day-to-day duties.
Indeed, that’s the American norm across agencies, departments and jurisdictions. State troopers don’t wear masks. Neither do FBI agents. U.S. marshals don’t wear masks; sheriffs don’t wear masks; prosecutors don’t wear masks; and Secret Service agents don’t wear masks.
But Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears to be operating under different standards. Indeed, it’s become rather common in recent months to see ICE agents, acting at Donald Trump’s behest, snatching people off American streets while hiding their identities.
The federal agency has made it clear that it’s aware of the questions surrounding this practice, but it’s also taken steps to defend it. In April, for example, the Department of Homeland Security, which ICE falls under, asserted that assaults against ICE officers have increased 300%. A month later, that figure grew. “ICE officers are now facing a 413% increase in assaults,” DHS claimed in May.
This week, the statistic climbed again, with officials declaring in an online statement, “New data reveals that ICE law enforcement is now facing a 500% increase in assaults while carrying out enforcement officials.” DHS went on to blame unnamed “sanctuary politicians” for contributing to the “vilification and demonization of ICE.”
As a general matter, the idea that ICE has become a highly controversial agency is very easy to believe. It’s also quite plausible to believe that ICE agents, like many who work in law enforcement, are having to deal with increased threats.
But if the idea is that ICE agents should hide their identities while snatching people off public streets as a safety precaution, operating under a unique standard for accountability, it’s probably worth knowing whether ICE’s statistics are legitimate.
With this in mind, The Washington Post’s Philip Bump took a closer look at the publicly available information and found the evidence wanting. Indeed, he made multiple requests to ICE for information about its statistics, and the agency chose not to respond.
What’s more, Bump was able to find some recent incidents in which ICE agents were assaulted, but in these instances, facial coverings wouldn’t have prevented the violence.








