Geraldo Rivera says masked ICE agents reflect a ‘horrible’ task

Longtime television journalist Geraldo Rivera said this week that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents cover their faces during operations because the work itself has become “sorrowful” and “horrible,” not primarily out of concern for their own safety.

Appearing Wednesday on MS NOW’s “The Beat” with host Ari Melber, Mr. Rivera argued that mask-wearing sets ICE apart from other federal and local law enforcement.

“The FBI doesn’t wear masks. The sheriffs don’t. The cops don’t,” Mr. Rivera said. “Why is it unique? Unique to this force that they have to hide their identities? It’s because the … sorrowful, horrible task that they have been given is, is so antithetical to most people’s sense of decency.”

Mr. Melber had opened the segment by suggesting that, when it comes to the administration’s second-term immigration crackdown, many see something having gone off the rails. Mr. Rivera responded by describing what he called the demonization of immigrants who, in his telling, mostly come to the U.S. simply to work, support family back home and escape cartel violence.

The exchange landed amid a broader, ongoing fight over the practice of masked immigration enforcement. ICE’s acting director has said he personally is not a fan of the masks but allows them, citing what the agency describes as a sharp rise in assaults on officers — a figure disputed by outside analysts. Critics, including a coalition of state attorneys general and big-city mayors, counter that the anonymity undermines accountability and has enabled impostors to pose as agents during several reported crimes — an argument laid out in detail in the Guardian’s reporting on the ICE mask policy.

New York and New Jersey both enacted laws this year restricting when federal agents may wear masks during operations, prompting the Justice Department to sue both states over the measures. New York’s law, which drew a DOJ lawsuit calling it unconstitutional, was detailed in Courthouse News’ coverage of the dueling suits; New Jersey’s version, signed by Gov. Mikie Sherrill, similarly drew a federal challenge.