National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez slammed the Democratic-backed proposed "VISIBLE Act" in Congress that would require federal immigration authorities to present clear identification and prevent them from wearing face coverings in public-facing circumstances.
"Tone-deaf politics, especially after law enforcement agents have been specifically targeted," Perez told Fox News Digital in an interview.
"What they'd like to see is our agents get killed because there is absolutely no reason for you to require a policy that forces our agents to identify themselves in public because everybody's got a camera so that they can be doxxed and attacked," he said, adding it poses a risk to officers' families as well.
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"It's insane to create a policy. You're pandering to people that cannot even vote for you. You know, you're protecting illegal immigrants that have no right to be in this country, and you're sacrificing honorable law enforcement officers," he continued, saying that agents are being tasked to enforce laws that Congress enacted to begin with.
"Our agents are never gonna be afraid. They know the job that they signed up for. But what they don't appreciate, what we don't want is targeting," he said.
ICE agents have seen a 700% increase in assaults from the same time in 2024, and recent protests and riots have drawn serious concerns about the safety of law enforcement as they ramp up deportation and other immigration operations.
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A Border Patrol annex facility in McAllen, Texas, faced an ambush on Monday that resulted in a local police officer being injured along with two Border Patrol personnel.
Meanwhile, an anti-ICE attack at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, last Friday resulted in a local police officer being shot in the neck, and 10 individuals are now facing attempted murder charges.
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Democrats have said that the VISIBLE Act, which stands for "Visible Identification Standards for Immigration-Based Law Enforcement," is a necessary degree of accountability for agents amid a major shift in immigration policy under the Trump administration. The bill is co-sponsored by 13 other Democratic senators: Tammy Duckworth, Adam Schiff, Tina Smith, Peter Welch, Andy Kim, Patty Murray, Ron Wyden, Elissa Slotkin, Amy Klobuchar, Chris Van Hollen, Mazie Hirono, Gary Peters, and Richard Blumenthal.
"When federal immigration agents show up and pull someone off the street in plainclothes with their face obscured and no visible identification, it only escalates tensions and spreads fear while shielding federal agents from basic accountability," Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said in a statement in support of the bill, which he is leading with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.
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"Immigration agents should be required to display their agency and name or badge number - just like police and other local law enforcement agencies. The VISIBLE Act's commonsense requirements will restore transparency and ensure impersonators can't exploit the panic and confusion caused by unidentifiable federal immigration enforcement agents," the Democrat continued.
At the state level, the debate over whether agents should mask comes as discussions about how lower-level authorities should coordinate with the federal government, and to what extent.
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"Well, I'll leave that to Congress to decide," Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs told Fox News Digital at a press conference in Phoenix on Thursday when asked her stance on the federal bill.
"I can tell you I've had conversations, and I understand people's concerns about agents being masked. But I've had conversations with leadership here at [Arizona Department of Public Safety] and there certainly are circumstances where for officer safety, they might have officers masked in a situation. And so I don't think there's a cut and dry 'yes or no,' 'this should happen or not.' I trust our state leadership to make the right decisions in those circumstances," Hobbs added.
Other states, like Massachusetts and California, have had lawmakers pitch similar ideas but would likely face constitutional barriers, as it would regulate federal authorities.
