Unmask ICE
A letter demanding visible identification and accountability for federal agents.
To start, the point of this letter is to create something that you can send to a local authority, your state reps, your governor, your state attorney general, your Congressperson, your Senator, DHS, or even the White House.
You can say something anytime, but sometimes it’s hard to know what to say or to just sit down and say it. So, there will be letters here on this website that you can just copy, fill in and send snail mail, email, drop the text in an online comment box — anything you want. The goal is to make it easy to push back. And here’s the letter:
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Email / Phone]
[Date]
The Honorable [Representative / Senator ___]
U.S. House of Representatives / U.S. Senate
[Office Address]
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear [Representative / Senator / Governor ___]:
I am writing to urge you to support and advance legislation requiring all federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to operate without masks that conceal their identity and to make their agency affiliation and personal identification clearly visible in all public-facing enforcement activities. This includes requiring ICE officers and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel to visibly display a name, badge number, and agency insignia while engaging with members of the public.
Recent immigration enforcement operations have involved plainclothes federal agents wearing masks and engaging with civilians in public places — sometimes from unmarked vehicles and without clear indicators of law enforcement authority. Videos and reports of these encounters have alarmed communities nationwide, creating confusion, fear, and mistrust of law enforcement. In some cases, observers have reasonably been unable to determine whether the individuals detaining people are legitimate officers or criminals impersonating agents — a problem the FBI itself has highlighted as a risk to public safety.
Federal law enforcement must be transparent, accountable, and identifiable. When officers conceal their faces and avoid clear identification, it undermines the fundamental trust necessary between the government and the people it serves and weakens public confidence in the rule of law. The practice also poses serious civil liberties concerns, blurs lines of authority, and makes it harder for individuals to know their rights or to report abuses.
In response to these issues, members of Congress have introduced bills such as the Visible Identification Standards for Immigration-Based Law Enforcement (VISIBLE) Act and the ICE Badge Visibility Act, which would mandate that ICE and other DHS law enforcement officers clearly identify themselves and prohibit the use of face coverings that conceal their identity during public enforcement operations. These measures represent sensible, commonsense reforms that strengthen accountability while preserving legitimate operational necessities.
For the safety of our communities, for accountability to the public, and for the integrity of law enforcement itself, I urge you to:
Support and co-sponsor federal legislation that unambiguously requires ICE and all federal immigration enforcement officers to be unmasked and visibly identifiable in public-facing enforcement activities.
Ensure that any exceptions to this requirement are narrow, justified by specific operational needs (e.g., covert operations, environmental protection), and do not undermine the general rule of transparent identification.
Advocate for clear statutory standards that require DHS to issue policies with concrete procedures for enforcing these identification requirements.
In our constitutional republic, transparency — not secrecy — should be the default in law enforcement. Thank you for your attention to this critical issue. I look forward to your leadership in advancing meaningful reforms that ensure accountability, safeguard civil liberties, and protect public trust in federal law enforcement.
Respectfully,
[Your Name]
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