A woman taking a video of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s arrest outside a Beaverton Montessori school on July 15 quickly keyed in on what has become a concern for community residents and lawmakers alike.
“This is not OK,” she said as she filmed. “No one here will identify themselves to me.”
Several men are shown on the video wearing black vests with generic “police” labels, while balaclava masks obscure their faces. One man could be heard responding to the woman on the video: “We are immigration, clearly.”
The controversial practice of law enforcement agencies covering their faces has prompted Democratic Oregon lawmakers from several levels of government to consider policies that would ban it, saying it makes it more difficult to hold officers accountable for their actions and adds another layer of fear and intimidation to being arrested.
It’s become an issue across the nation, with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass saying the federal immigration raids in her city by masked agents have created a “reign of terror.”
Those who defend the practice have said it keeps their federal officers safe and prevents people from tracking them down or threatening their families.
This week, the family of Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, 38, released edited video clips of the ICE officers who detained him while he was driving his child to Guidepost Montessori school.
The arrest marked the first confirmed immigration enforcement action outside of an Oregon school. Until earlier this year, federal policy prohibited immigration officials from making arrests near certain locations such as schools, houses of worship and hospitals.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden is introducing legislation mandating that ICE agents clearly identify themselves and prohibiting non-medical face coverings, such as masks, unless there is an environmental concern or it’s an undercover operation.
Wyden’s proposal would also require federal agents to clearly display their identification, including the name of their agency or initials and their name or badge number.
Wyden introduced the legislation before Khanbabazadeh’s arrest. He also joined other Democratic senators, including U.S. Patty Murray, D-Washington, requesting more information from ICE on its mask and uniform policies.
“Trump letting masked immigration agents in plain clothes abduct people from public spaces is straight out of an authoritarian playbook,” Wyden said in a statement.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said agents have been wearing masks to protect themselves and said there has been a spike in assaults against officers.
“When our heroic law enforcement officers conduct operations, they clearly identify themselves as law enforcement while wearing masks to protect themselves from being targeted by highly sophisticated gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13, criminal rings, murderers, and rapists,” she said in a statement.
Oregon state Rep. Ricki Ruiz, D-Gresham, said he’s been discussing with his state lawmaker colleagues about what could be done by Oregon to prohibit the practice of concealing law-enforcement identities.
“I’ll tell you this, law enforcement in Gresham is not going to put masks on to make an arrest or a traffic stop. They are going to show who they are and they are not hiding their identity,” he said. “I don’t think ICE should be any different.”
Ruiz pointed out that ICE has been making arrests for decades and historically were not known for concealing their identities. He also pointed to what happened in Minnesota in June, where a man impersonating law enforcement killed a state lawmaker and her husband and wounded others.
“I see this as a public safety issue, making sure we are being transparent,” Ruiz said.
Conrad Wilson contributed to this report.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.