As I posted in another thread, Orwell, 1984:
“Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.”
The 'real" answer is for safety for their families.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/los-angeles-ice-raids-fuel-controversy-over-masked-agents-2025-06-09/
Democratic lawmakers and civil rights groups say masks are an attempt by ICE agents to escape accountability for their actions and are aimed at frightening immigrants as they carry out Republican President Donald Trump’s directive to crack down on illegal immigration.
Republicans and ICE officials assert the face coverings are necessary to protect agents and their families from being targeted by “doxxing,” in which their home addresses and personal information are posted online.
“People are out there taking photos of the names, their faces, and posting them online with death threats to their family and themselves,” Todd Lyons, the acting ICE chief, said last week.
Both answers have truth to them.
Then at least they should be wearing uniforms, with badges and badge numbers, and using marked SUVs.
I tried to find some good pictures of ICE agents at the protests, but was unable to do so.
Is there any evidence that ICE agents are more at risk of being doxxed than other LEOs?
No, they don’t. Let’s see evidence to back up the claim that “People are out there taking photos of the names, their faces, and posting them online with death threats to their family and themselves.”
Stranger
AHomeland Security spokesperson has denounced as “thugs” an “independent media group” which is creating a database of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, and asking people to report officers or collaborators.
In an email shared with Newsweek, a spokesperson for The Crustian Daily, the group which has created the list said: “The ICE List exists because we believe the people carrying out violent state policy should not be protected by anonymity.”
Newsweek has reached out to ICE via email for comment.
## Why It Matters
Such a list poses ethical issues around privacy because it risks exposing personal details without consent. It could also make people who work for the government potential targets for attack, and could make it more likely that ICE agents will wear masks at all times during arrests
Because hoods and bedsheets are passe?
I totally agree, actually. People carrying out violent state policy should not be protected by anonymity. If they want to shield their families, maybe they should try, I dunno, not being fascists.
Not a hot take I thought I’d ever find myself making, but the stakes really are that high.
I wonder if (when) a person being grabbed by “unmarked” ice agent in a “gun toting” state mistakes an ICE grab for an abduction and a shooing breaks out. I don’t believe that scenario is at all far fetched.
Could be a woman being grabbed, she screams she’s being kidnapped, and armed bystanders decide to be heroes.
Can? How about are,
Sure, that totally justifies a secret police force that can ignore the constitution.
Oh, right. There’s no need for the identity of any government personnel to me made public. As long as the president vouches for them it’s none of our business.
Can you guess what my tone is meant to convey?
They really arent. Sure, the whole trump administration and every trump appointee is suspect, but the line agents are just civil servants earning a salary. Any obvious racists are screened out. Most were hired before January 2025 when trump became president.
And just following orders?
Yep. But have any been accused of “Crimes against humanity” yet? Overzealous maybe, and they made some mistakes, but can you really compare this to nazi atrocities? Give me a break.
I dont like it either, but the blame falls squarely on the trump administration and the xenophobic and bigoted MAGA voters.
Even when & if the Dems control the next administration I will bet few if any line civil servants are arrested for such crimes. It will be political appointees.
Where the hell are you getting this shit? “Mask and no name tag, pick them up and spirit them away” is about as far from “simple civil servant” as you can possibly get.
No, I condemn anyone who continues to work for ICE knowing it is being used as an authoritarian instrument to commit acts that are directly opposed to the US Constitution. Anyone who hasn’t bowed out by now is complicit.
The thought of the poor men condemned to life in a brutal prison without due process still nauseates me. That man weeping for his mother. People kidnapped off the streets just because they joined a protest. Nobody with a shred of decency would choose to be associated with that.
No, you cannot compare them to Nazis.
Nazis wore identifiable uniforms and name tags, and didn’t for the most part wear masks…but, then again, both groups were/are “Just Following Orders”.
Hey, Auschwitz wasn’t built in day! Htler ran on a platform of hatred. Once he had power, he started stripping Jews and various other groups of their rights. Auschwitz did not originally have gas chambers. Those came later.
We are past quite a few red flags and road marks already.
As Spice Weasel said, if you work for ICE and start receiving illegal orders-
You can protest through channels.
You can quit. If you follow the illegal orders, you are simply saying ‘I know I am doing things that are illegal and immoral. I am okay with that as long as I have a job.’
Or, you can just follow the illegal orders.