Since Donald Trump took office for a second time, masked federal agents are wreaking havoc and making arrests of immigrants and even some U.S. citizens. Two lawmakers in Congress say they have a plan to stop the “secret” policing that has become a feature of this administration.
Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat, both Democrats of New York, introduced the “No Secret Police Act of 2025” on Thursday. If passed, the legislation would forbid law enforcement officers and agents for the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement from hiding their faces or concealing their identity when making arrests. Agents would also be required to display or wear certain insignia, and provide identification when they are making arrests or attempting to detain someone.
Homemade, non-tactical masks are also banned under the proposed legislation.
“Across the country, plain-clothed federal agents in homemade face coverings are lying in wait outside immigration courts to snatch law-abiding, non-violent immigrants going through our legal system the right way. This isn’t about protecting law enforcement, it’s about terrorizing immigrant communities,” Goldman said. “The United States is not a dictatorship, and I’m proud to introduce this commonsense legislation ensuring that our federal government’s laws are enforced by identifiable human beings, not anonymous, secret agents of the state.”
