On Friday’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) responded to a question on if he believes ICE agents are doxxed and targeted and how he would deal with that concern by saying that “We want to make sure that ICE agents are conducting themselves like every other law enforcement agency in the country.”
Co-host Steve Inskeep asked, “You want agents to take off their masks. As a citizen, I very much understand the case for this. The agent works for me. I’m their employer. I pay their salary. They’re doing my business. They should identify themselves. And when they ask for my ID, I should require them to give their ID. But Republicans respond with this fear of doxxing, that agents will be targeted. Do you believe that happens to agents, and can you offer any way to deal with their concern?”
Jeffries answered, “We want to make sure that ICE agents are conducting themselves like every other law enforcement agency in the country. And that is something that I think is consistent with who we are as Americans. Police officers don’t wear masks, county sheriffs don’t wear masks, and state troopers don’t wear masks. In fact, there’s no evidence that FBI agents wear masks. And so, this is a unique situation, in terms of how ICE is conducting themselves. And part of the challenge is that it leads to a view amongst many Americans — I think, correctly — that these agents are behaving themselves with violent and brutal impunity, as opposed to being held to standards that are consistent with not using excessive force, not brutalizing people, or, in some instances, not killing people in cold blood, as was the case with Renee Good and Alex Pretti.”
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