Mike German, an ex-FBI agent, said immigration agents hiding their identities ‘highlights the illegitimacy of actions’
Some wear balaclavas. Some wear neck gators, sunglasses and hats. Some wear masks and casual clothes.
Across the country, armed federal immigration officers have increasingly hidden their identities while carrying out immigration raids, arresting protesters and roughing up prominent Democratic critics.
It’s a trend that has sparked alarm among civil rights and law enforcement experts alike.
Mike German, a former FBI agent, said officers’ widespread use of masks was unprecedented in US law enforcement and a sign of a rapidly eroding democracy. “Masking symbolizes the drift of law enforcement away from democratic controls,” he said.
The problem with letting law enforcement hide their identities are diverse, destabilizing and dumb. Accountability for enforcement is already very improbable in the US, now you wouldn’t even know if your abducter is on ICE payroll because how would you?
There are already laws about doxing, why do these ICE need/deserve more protection? If I were them, i’d quit and not be an active part of turbo-eroding (destroying?) democracy.