Democrats Move to (Eventually) Unmask Trump’s Secret Police
Two new bills would force ICE and Border Patrol agents to show their faces, names, and badges.
WASHINGTON — They came down 16th Street this week the way they’ve been coming all summer: black masks pulled up over their faces, badges tucked away, names nowhere to be seen. In Washington, D.C., where we live and work, Donald Trump’s federal occupation force no longer bothers to tell you who’s grabbing your neighbors off the sidewalk.
Congress, for once, saw it coming.
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The “No Secret Police Act”
Back in July, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and nearly three dozen colleagues filed the No Secret Police Act of 2025. It’s as simple as laws get: if an officer from Homeland Security is detaining or arresting you, he must show you who he is and who he works for. No masks. No mystery. A badge and an agency patch where the public can see them.
Goldman’s bill even directs DHS to research ways to make insignia more visible in bad weather or at night, so the next time ICE or Border Patrol comes calling, there’s no excuse for looking like an occupying army.
The Senate’s Answer
Over in the Senate, Mark Warner (D-Va.) introduced the Immigration Enforcement Identification Safety Act of 2025. This one goes further: it requires ICE, CBP, or even deputized local cops working under 287(g) agreements to wear visible identification — name, agency, and, yes, their face. No more stormtrooper look.
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There are exceptions: undercover investigations, hostage rescues, terrorism raids, the stuff of TV cop shows. But in everyday enforcement — raids, traffic stops, workplace sweeps — the law says the public has the right to know who’s putting the cuffs on them.
The Senate bill also throws in a perk for officers: reimbursements for “privacy-enhancing services” online, a nod to the fact that showing your name in public can put your family at risk. That balance — transparency for the public, safety for the agents — is the compromise lawmakers say will keep both sides honest.
MY TAKE: Here in the District, we don’t need a think tank to tell us why these bills matter. You can feel it in Mount Pleasant, in Columbia Heights, outside the corner store: people are terrified of the masked men with no names. Migrants, citizens, even bystanders. When the government shows up looking like a gang, nobody’s rights are safe.
Congressional Democrats wrote these bills before the occupation hit full tilt. Now they read like prophecy. Will they pass under a GOP trifecta? Unlikely; but even if not, these two are certainly worth bookmarking for migrant policy wishlists of future Congresses.
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