Exclusive: Robert Garcia and Summer Lee sent letter to Kristi Noem regarding masked immigration agents and concerns over constitutional protections
Democratic members of Congress are pressing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reveal information about immigration officers’ practice of wearing masks and concealing their identities, according to a letter viewed by the Guardian.
The letter marks another step in pushes by US lawmakers to require immigration officials to identify themselves during arrest operations, especially when agents are masked, a practice that has sparked outrage among civil rights groups.
Congressman Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the powerful committee on oversight and government reform, along with Representative Summer Lee, wrote to the secretary of the DHS, Kristi Noem, pressing for “memoranda, directives, guidance, communications” regarding immigration officers’ use of masks and unmarked cars for immigration operations.
“For every person within the United States, the Fourth Amendment guarantees protection from unreasonable searches and seizures and the Fifth Amendment guarantees a right to due process under the law,” the pair wrote. “In direct violation of these principles, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has allowed its agents – primarily from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) – to conceal their identities and use unmarked vehicles while conducting immigration enforcement activities.”
