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House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News on Friday that Democrats pushing for ICE agents to unmask themselves are the same “people who mandated mask wearing for years in America” during the coronavirus pandemic.
Johnson was asked by Fox News for his reaction as “some Democrats, including [House Minority] Leader [Hakeem] Jeffries, have suggested that the ICE agents who are arresting some of these migrants should not be wearing masks.”
“From the people who mandated mask wearing for years in America. It’s absurd. They need to back off of ICE and respect our agents and stop protesting against them,” Johnson said. “They’re trying to uphold the rule of law, and they don’t want to be targeted by Democrat activists. So I’m in favor of whatever protocol.”
Jeffries said Tuesday that ICE agents who attempt to conceal “their identities from the American people, will be unsuccessful in doing that” and they will all be identified “no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes.”
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Johnson was then asked Friday “so you’re okay with these agents sort of not identifying themselves when they’re arresting migrants?”
“Why? So that they can target them?” he responded. “So they can put their names and faces online and dox them? That’s what these activists do. So we have to protect those who protect our communities.
“And it’s absurd for anybody, members of Congress or any other elected leader, to be calling out ICE for trying to do their job. They’ve made it difficult for them to do it for years, and I just think it’s patently absurd,” Johnson also said.
At his weekly press conference Friday, Fox News asked Jeffries if he was concerned that possibly demasking some ICE agents puts them or their families’ safety at risk.
“It seems to me that the officials at the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE, should be held to the same standards as every other part of law enforcement in terms of transparency,” the Democrat from New York said.
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On Jeffries’ official X account, in September 2020, he wrote “It’s not that complicated. Wear. A. Mask.”
Then around a year later, in August 2021, Jeffries said “Get vaccinated. Wear a mask. Crush the virus.”
Two Democrat senators from Virginia, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, also wrote a letter last month to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and other top officials about ICE’s recent immigration enforcement operations taking an “alarming and dangerous turn.”
“Across the country and in Virginia, masked ICE officers and agents without clearly visible identification as law enforcement have been arresting individuals on the streets and in sensitive locations, such as courthouses. Such actions put everyone at risk – the targeted individuals, the ICE officers and agents, and bystanders who may misunderstand what is happening and may attempt to intervene,” they said.
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“We urge you to direct ICE officers and agents to promptly and clearly identify themselves as law enforcement officers conducting law enforcement actions when arresting subjects, and limit the use of face coverings during arrests and other enforcement actions to avoid intimidation and reduce safety risks to the public,” the Senators added.
In August 2021, Kaine pushed mask wearing as well, writing in a Facebook post that he was “Deeply concerned about the rapid rise of COVID-19 delta variant infections we are seeing across the Commonwealth” and that “We should do all we can to help stop the spread of the virus and keep ourselves and our loved ones safe, including following CDC guidance such as getting vaccinated, masking up indoors, and social distancing.”
“Folks, let’s continue to protect ourselves by getting vaccinated, masking up, and social distancing so we can safely return to all of the activities we love,” Warner added at the time.
Representatives for Jeffries, Kaine and Warner did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Tyler Olson and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
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