Human Rights Watch Report -- "US: Masked Federal Agents Undermine Rule of Law Increases Aura of Lawlessness, Terror in Abusive Immigration Arrests"

U.S. immigration enforcement officers now commonly operate masked and without visible identification, compounding the abusive and unaccountable nature of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, Human Rights Watch said today. "The indefinite and widespread nature of these practices is fundamentally inconsistent with the United States’ obligations to ensure that law enforcement abuses are investigated and met with accountability."

The Human Rights Watch press release observes that the Trump

"administration has carried out an campaign of immigration raids and arrests, primarily of people of color, across the country. Many of the raids target places where Latino people work, shop, eat, and live. . . . These immigration enforcement operations have often involved Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents wearing masks and, in some cases, civilian clothes. Agents are regularly concealing agency insignias and using unmarked vehicles to detain people who are in their cars and at courthouses, schools, workplaces, homes, on the street, and in public transport."

ICE justifies the widespread practice of masking `to prevent doxing.' This kind of generalized, blanket justification for concealing officers’ identity is not compatible with US human rights obligations, except when necessary and proportionate to address particular safety concerns, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch interviewed 18 people who witnessed arrests by or who were arrested by unidentifiable people in five US cities since January 20. They all described the incidents as frightening, with a sense that they couldn’t do anything if they were abused, especially with the agents unidentifiable. Human Rights Watch also reviewed dozens of videos of stops and arrests involving masked agents posted on social media.