When Jack Riley helped run the US Drug Enforcement Administration, his agents often went after dangerous cartel kingpins — but one thing they never did was wear masks.
So today, when the former No. 2 DEA official sees US immigration agents covering their faces while hauling people off or tangling with protesters, he can’t believe it.
“This is all about intimidation,” he said.
Riley, who retired from the agency in 2017, said he did not authorize DEA agents to cover their faces even when some of their Mexican law enforcement counterparts did.
When immigration agents obscure their faces, they risk undermining the legitimacy of every other police officer, according to Riley and the 35,000-member International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Especially when the agents don’t have their names on their uniforms.
Riley said he’s voiced concerns about federal agents wearing masks to current DEA Administrator Terrance Cole.
“He said, ‘We’re trying to address it, but (the Justice Department) is the one that’s going to have to come out with a policy because it involves multiple agencies,’” Riley said.
Riley is among current and former high-ranking national and local law enforcement officials raising red flags about federal agents donning ski masks, balaclavas and gaiters for deportation operations — a practice encouraged by President Donald Trump’s administration.
In June, when Border Patrol agents began a campaign in Los Angeles, Department of Homeland Security officials defended masking, saying immigration agents were being attacked, threatened and subjected to having their personal information released to the public, known as “doxing.”
The Trump administration has stuck with masking immigration agents since deploying hundreds to the Chicago area last month for a deportation campaign it dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.”
“I’ve never known law enforcement, unless people are working undercover on search warrants, to wear masks,” Michael Bouchard, former assistant director of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told WBEZ. “If you’re doing the right thing and abiding by the law, then why do you need to cover your face?
“It’s a trust thing with the public, too,” Bouchard said. “If they can see your face, your name, your badge, and you’re acting out of line, they can report you.”
John Sandweg, a former acting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement director and acting DHS general counsel, told CNN that federal authorities need a tighter policy on face coverings: “In the rare times they’re wearing masks, it (should be) because of very specific threat streams, like they’re taking down a high-level cartel member, and there might be actual threats to their physical safety.”
Chicago and Illinois police units who’ve helped with crowd control during protests against the deportation blitz aren’t wearing masks.
In a mostly symbolic move, Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order in August saying law enforcement officials in Chicago “cannot wear any mask, covering or disguise intended to conceal their identities from the public while performing their official duties.”
Federal immigration agencies have ignored the mayor’s order.
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a measure last month banning law enforcement officers from wearing masks in that state, prompting DHS to post on social media: “To be clear, we will not comply.”
The DHS post on the social media platform X went on to say, “At a time that ICE law enforcement faces a 1,000% increase in assaults and their family members are being doxed and targeted, the sitting governor of California signed unconstitutional legislation that strips law enforcement of protections in a disgusting, diabolical fundraising and PR stunt.”
ICE has said there were 172 reported assaults on agents between Jan. 21 and Oct. 1, compared with 15 reported assaults in the same period last year. ICE has more than 20,000 employees, including agents.
By comparison, Chicago police officers appear to have a higher rate of getting assaulted. The city has about 12,200 police employees, including sworn officers. In the first six months of last year, there were 313 instances in which an officer did not use force but reported being assaulted, records show.
In an Aug. 8 news conference near Chicago, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was asked by a Chicago Sun-Times reporter about ICE agents wearing masks.
“I would say they wear masks at times to protect their identities from dangerous situations,” Noem responded. “The leadership teams, we leave that up to them to discern what’s necessary in certain situations. With the rise in violence we are seeing against these officers, with that 1,000% increase, making sure they are safe when they do their jobs and they get home to their families at night, too, is incredibly important.”
Later in August, though, the police chiefs association adopted a resolution saying the use of face coverings and the absence of visible identification during enforcement operations “can create confusion, fear and mistrust among community members and responding agencies, potentially increasing operational risks and eroding public confidence.”
The group acknowledged that the number of assaults on immigration agents is up but said any “malicious release of personal information (doxing) and threats against officers should be addressed through aggressive prosecution.”
Another worry is that masks might invite imposters. Brandon Marc Draper, an assistant law professor at Texas Southern University, said in an essay published last month that criminals are posing as masked federal immigration agents to conceal their identities during robberies, burglaries and other crimes.
Thomas Mills — the police chief in Broadview, the west suburb where ICE has an immigrant processing facility — said the first time he saw the federal agency’s officers wearing masks was Sept. 12, and that surprised him.
Mills, a former Chicago police officer who worked on federal task forces, signed an affidavit last month in a federal lawsuit filed by the state of Illinois to challenge a Trump plan to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area.
In that sworn statement, Mills said he watched a few dozen immigration agents arrive at the facility and wrote, “The agents were dressed in camouflage tactical gear and had masks covering their faces.”
Mills said the masks seemed to inflame the protesters.
“It was a very noticeable shift in my mind,” he said. “As agents approached the ICE facility that day, the tone of the crowd of protesters changed. The crowd grew louder and began to press closer to the building.”
Amy Dru Stanley, a University of Chicago historian, said she does not know of a parallel in the past when law enforcement officers in this country wore masks during routine operations.
“Masking is not a common practice precisely because, in a democracy, we value transparency in criminal justice and accountability in law enforcement,” Stanley said. “I think masks are used to intimidate, to make it harder for the public to identify officers who engage in misconduct, from excessive use of force to suppression of lawful, peaceful protest. And, at this point, masking may also serve as a recruiting device, appealing to agents who want to police without accountability.
“Criminal justice in a democracy is meant to be blind — not masked,” Stanley said.
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