Pennsylvania legislators propose bill to prohibit law enforcement from using masks to hide their identities

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A group of Pennsylvania House lawmakers are proposing a measure that targets law enforcement officers’ efforts to hide their identities.

The bill — which has not yet been filed — would “prohibit the use of face coverings, masks, or otherwise concealing apparel that obscures identity during official operations.” It would also require officers to “wear identifiable uniforms or clothing clearly indicating their department, agency, or affiliation.”

Although the law would apply to all law enforcement, the legislators specifically call out “Homeland Security and US Border Patrol” for “allowing government agents to act without identification and concealing their faces while performing duties.”

Rep. Joe Webster pointed to a raid in which 14 employees were arrested at a West Norriton supermarket last week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who were described as armed and masked.

“That’s a show of force that’s startling,” Webster told WHYY News. “It’s so out of the ordinary that a government agent or a law enforcement officer has to pronounce that much force and then wear a mask so they’re not identifiable.”

Agents with ICE have become well-known for wearing masks in raids around the country. Elected officials — particularly Democrats — have been complaining about the practice for months.

In Los Angeles, which has been a focal point of recent ICE raids and protests against them, Mayor Karen Bass lamented recently that ICE agents “show up completely masked” and, therefore, residents might not even know if they are law enforcement.

“They refuse to give ID,” she added. “Are they bounty hunters? Are they vigilantes? If they’re federal officials, why is it that they do not identify themselves?”

After the supermarket raid, U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, who represents much of Montgomery County, echoed Bass in a video post on social media, saying that she was “getting calls, texts, videos, photographic evidence, of ICE raids in our county.” She called it “unacceptable” that “masked folks” in “unidentified cars” were “coming in and taking people.”

Additionally, 14 U.S. senators, including New Jersey’s Cory Booker, wrote a letter to Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, criticizing the practice, saying “it is crucial that ICE personnel not engage in conduct that is all but guaranteed to sow chaos and confusion and put law enforcement officers in danger.”

The recent shooting of two lawmakers in Minnesota has also added to concerns since the perpetrator gained proximity to his victims by dressing up as a police officer. Last month, a man allegedly impersonated a federal immigration officer to commit a Mayfair robbery.

Pennsylvania is now one of several states considering such legislation, joining California, New York and Massachusetts. In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for ICE said that the agency does not comment on pending legislation.

However, ICE recently issued a statement in which the agency claimed that there has been an 830% increase in assaults on ICE agents since last year. The statement further accused Democrats and the media of “anti-ICE rhetoric” and referred to incidents in which they say “Democratic members of Congress have been caught red-handed doxing and even physically assaulting ICE officials.”

“I’m not a proponent of the masks. However, if that’s a tool that the men and women of ICE [use] to keep themselves and their family safe, then I will allow it,” Lyons told CBS News.

Webster said that it’s increased ICE activity that is causing the problem to begin with.

“I’d like to check those numbers. If ICE agents are in supermarkets and on the streets of Los Angeles and they are in different parking lots, the incidents where they bump against another person, they’re creating that contact, right?” he said. “They’re creating these scenarios. Of course, the incidence rate is higher.”

WHYY News also reached out to the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, which represents Philadelphia police. A spokesperson referred WHYY News to the police commissioner’s office.

Like ICE, the commissioner’s office said they do not comment on proposed legislation, but a spokesperson, Sgt. Eric Gripp, responded that, while the department often works with federal agencies, “no PPD members are assigned to an ICE-led task force,” which is prohibited by former Mayor Jim Kenney’s “Executive Order 5-16, which limits local cooperation with civil immigration enforcement.”

Webster said he is currently working with police to ensure that the bill includes appropriate exceptions, such as in cases of undercover work.

In addition to Webster, Reps. Paul Friel, Joseph C. Hohenstein, Rick Krajewski, Chris Pielli, Abigail Salisbury, Greg Scott and Ben Waxman are sponsoring the bill.