WASHINGTON, D.C. (WTWO/WAWV)— Senator Tammy Duckworth, along with 12 of her colleagues, introduced legislation to require ICE officers to display clearly visible identification during public interactions.
The act is entitled the “Visible Identification Standards for Immigration-Based Law Enforcement” (VISIBLE) Act. The act is said to strengthen oversight, transparency, and accountability toward the current administration’s indiscriminate and alarming immigration enforcement tactics that they claim have terrorized communities across the United States.
“By sending masked officers without any sort of identification to detain nonviolent migrants, Donald Trump is proving once again that he’s more focused on sowing fear and distrust in our communities than actually making our country safer,” said Duckworth. “This deceptive practice shields federal agents from accountability and hurts public trust in immigration enforcement while creating chaos and confusion for the people being targeted by ICE. Without proper ID, anyone could impersonate an officer. I’m proud to join Senators Padilla and Booker in this effort to hold DHS accountable.”
The release from Senator Duckworth states that the current administration’s mass deportation agenda has caused civil immigration enforcement operations to involve Homeland Security Officers engaging the public wearing unmarked tactical gear, concealing clothing, and face coverings. In doing so, this obscures not only personal identity but also affiliation with agency. This has caused the public to have doubts about whether they are interacting with legitimate government officials.
Duckworth believes that the lack of transparency endangers public safety by causing widespread confusion and fear. It also increases the operational and safety risks for law enforcement personnel by creating a risk of impersonators and more uncertainty in high-stress situations. Duckworth believes that clear, visible identification can help reduce miscommunication during enforcement encounters, strengthen officer credibility, and improve public cooperation, which in turn would help ICE operations.
In more specifics, the VISIBLE act would:
- Require immigration enforcement officers — including DHS personnel such as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), federal agents detailed to immigration operations and deputized state or local officers — to display clearly legible identification, including their agency name or initials and either their name or badge number, in a manner that remains visible and unobscured by tactical gear or clothing;
- Prohibit non-medical face coverings (such as masks or balaclavas) that obscure identity or facial visibility, with exceptions for environmental hazards or covert operations; and
- Require DHS to establish disciplinary procedures for violations, report annually to Congress on compliance and investigate complaints through its Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
The bill would not apply to any covert operations done by the agencies or any operation that doesn’t deal with the public. It also would not prevent officers from using face coverings for safety purposes or during operations based on criminal authority.
A copy of the bill’s full text can be found here.
