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EXCLUSIVE: With assaults on Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials surging nearly 700% and Democrats pushing a bill to require agents to de-mask during immigration enforcement operations, a special agent voiced concern about escalating violence and the effect de-masking could have on agents’ families.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, the special agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said immigration enforcement officials “wouldn’t wear masks if they didn’t care” about their families.
The agent said increased protests and resistance from politicians have made carrying out their duties difficult. The agent also said attempts to dox agents have made many worry about their families’ safety.
The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News this week that assaults against ICE officers and federal agents conducting immigration enforcement are up 690% compared to the same time last year.
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DHS recorded 10 assault events from Jan. 21, 2024, to June 30, 2024. From the day after President Donald Trump took office earlier this year until Monday, the department recorded 79 assault events. DHS said the true number is likely higher. They are happening at such a fast pace, some assault reports may not be accounted for yet.
This comes as Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., have called for ICE agents to be de-masked.
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In June, Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., introduced a bill, the No Masks for ICE Act, to bar ICE agents from wearing face coverings during enforcement actions. Earlier in June, Jeffries declared that all ICE agents who perpetrate “aggressive overreach” and attempt to conceal “their identities from the American people, will be unsuccessful in doing that.” They will all be identified “no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes,” he asserted, saying that is what the law requires.
Speaking on behalf of himself and his partner, the agent said that despite Jeffries’ threats, they believe “the agency or the administration will do their best to protect us.”
“If they don’t, then whatever happens to us, my family, anything outside of that, he’s [Jeffries] responsible for it. He’s directly responsible for it,” the agent said.
“What value do you get from taking masks off federal agents or law enforcement that are afraid and getting doxxed?” the agent asked. “What value does that have for you? What’s your return on investment at that point?”
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The agent said in the area of operations, which is run by Democrats who are friendly to sanctuary policies, “almost daily there’s some kind of protest or there’s a group that’s calling out agents or following them around or videotaping them, taking pictures of license plates.”
The agent said protesters have also been following and photographing agents even before they begin an operation, making it difficult to plan and prepare for missions at well-known places such as police departments.
Despite the disruptions, the agent said protesters only give illegals “false hope” that they will be able to evade arrest and deportation.
“They’re telling them, ‘If you fight this, you might win.’ And that’s not good legal advice at all,” he said.
“If people come out, and it creates more of a problem, a lot of times the ICE agents just say, ‘Hey, this area is too heated up. We’re going to go somewhere else,’” he explained. “We’re not short on targets. So, if I’m in town X, and they’re outside my car yelling and screaming or giving my agents a hard time, they can always go to town Y and look for another target.”
Ultimately, the agent said, all de-masking immigration officials would do is allow them to be doxxed and endanger not only their families but their communities.
“You got people also within my agency and this career field, they work at a church part-time as a clergy person, or maybe they’re involved in Girl Scouts, maybe they’re a baseball coach,” the agent explained.
“The last thing that these people want is for some angry person or for some agitator to show up at a baseball game that he or she’s coaching and put the attention on them or threaten their families or their way of life.”
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