Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Sunday pushed back against the Trump administration’s reasoning for allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to wear masks as a means of protecting themselves and their families from retaliation.
“Well, first of all, let me just tell you that the masked men are not from Los Angeles, and so how their families could be retaliated against,” Bass told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation.”
“And then what is that to say to local law enforcement, the Los Angeles Police Department, none of whom are ever masked, who always identify themselves and even hand someone a business card. So that makes absolutely no sense at all,” she added.
In an interview clip aired on Sunday, Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told CBS that while he was not a proponent of officers wearing masks, he would still allow them to do so due to safety concerns.
“However, if that’s a tool that the men and women of ICE to keep themselves and their family safe, then I will allow it,” Lyons said. “I do kind of push back on the criticism that they don’t identify themselves.”
He pointed to the officer’s gear, which have markings that identified them to others.
However, during her interview, Bass said many ICE agents in Los Angeles are in “plain clothes with vests on that say ‘police’.”
“It looks like something that they could have gotten online,” she said.
Since his return to office, President Trump has instituted a vast and sweeping immigration crackdown, resulting in backlash from Democrats and advocates on the left.
Trump last month ordered 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to L.A. to assist law enforcement with protests that erupted in response to the ICE raids. Both Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) have repeatedly called that move unnecessary.
And earlier this month, a group of Senate Democrats pressed ICE on the masking of officers not in uniform during its operations.
In the letter sent to Lyons, the Democrats argued that the masks and lack of uniforms have led to chaos in Los Angeles as agents have looked to make arrests. The letter also accused ICE of seeking to meet “arbitrary quotas” set by Stephen Miller, a White House deputy chief of staff and key adviser to Trump reported to be demanding huge increases in ICE detentions and deportations.
