Federal immigration enforcement agents are increasingly operating while masked and without visible identification, a practice that Human Rights Watch says has become widespread under the Trump administration and is fueling fear, abuse, and a breakdown in accountability across immigrant communities and beyond.
In a statement released Thursday, Human Rights Watch said that federal immigration officers are now routinely concealing their identities while conducting arrests and raids as part of the administration’s mass deportation campaign. “United States federal immigration enforcement agents now commonly operate masked and without visible identification, compounding the abusive and unaccountable nature of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign,” the organization said. “The indefinite and widespread nature of these practices is fundamentally inconsistent with the United States’ obligations to ensure that law enforcement abuses are investigated and met with accountability.”
Human Rights Watch said the pattern has intensified since President Donald Trump’s return to office in January 2025. According to the group, the administration has carried out “an abusive campaign of immigration raids and arrests, primarily of people of color, across the country.” Many of the operations have targeted places where Latino people work, shop, eat, and live, as well as courthouses, regularly scheduled appointments with immigration officials, places of worship, schools, and other sensitive locations. The organization reported that many of the raids involve sudden and unprovoked uses of force that create a climate of fear in immigrant communities.
The findings are based on interviews with 18 people in five U.S. cities who were arrested by or witnessed arrests carried out by unidentifiable federal agents since January 20. Human Rights Watch also reviewed dozens of videos posted on social media showing stops and arrests involving masked agents. Those interviewed consistently described fear, confusion, and a sense of helplessness, particularly because the officers involved could not be identified or held accountable.
One of the most detailed cases cited by Human Rights Watch involved Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University who was detained in Massachusetts in March. According to the organization, Öztürk was walking on the street on March 25 at about 5:15 p.m. when at least six officers in civilian dress and unmarked vehicles approached her without identifying themselves. Human Rights Watch said she was apparently targeted after publishing an opinion piece in a student newspaper calling on Tufts to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide” and divest from investments connected to Israel.
Öztürk told Human Rights Watch that the masked individuals forcibly took her phone and backpack, placed her in handcuffs, and refused to show badges when she asked who they were. She said one person claimed to be “police” and another flashed a gold necklace, but she did not see a badge attached and could not identify them. CCTV footage captured a bystander asking the agents, “Why are you hiding your faces?” Öztürk said she was not shown any paperwork justifying her arrest and was then forcibly removed from the state and wrongfully detained.
“It was a horrible feeling,” Öztürk said. “I didn’t think that they were the police because I had never seen police approach and take someone away like this. I thought they were people who were doxing me, and I was genuinely very afraid for my safety… As a woman who’s traveled and lived alone in various countries for my studies, I’ve never experienced intense fear for my safety—until that moment.” Separate reporting included in the source material states that Öztürk was taken to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana and released 45 days later after a federal judge ordered her freedom, noting she had committed no crime.
Human Rights Watch said ICE agents and officers from other federal agencies have also carried out violent actions against U.S. citizens, activists, journalists, and others within affected communities. Because agents are frequently masked and lack visible identification, the group said victims and witnesses are often unable to determine who detained them or seek redress for abuse.
ICE has defended the widespread practice of masking agents by citing concerns about doxing. Human Rights Watch rejected that justification, arguing that it does not meet international human rights standards. “This kind of generalized, blanket justification for concealing officers’ identity is not compatible with US human rights obligations, except when necessary and proportionate to address particular safety concerns,” the organization said. “Anonymity also weakens deterrence, fosters conditions for impunity, and chills the exercise of rights.”
Witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch described lasting damage to trust in law enforcement. One woman who has witnessed numerous raids in Chicago said, “I’ve had experiences with agents who refused to identify themselves. That adds another level of fear. These are not identifiable police officers who could be held publicly accountable.” A man in Washington, DC, who has also witnessed multiple arrests by masked ICE agents said the tactics have “completely destroyed any trust we’ve had for local and federal law enforcement.”
Judicial criticism has echoed these concerns. In a ruling cited by Human Rights Watch, a U.S. District Court judge stated that “ICE goes masked for a single reason—to terrorize Americans into quiescence… We have never tolerated an armed masked secret police.” In another ruling referenced in the source material, Republican appointed U.S. District Judge William Young wrote, “ICE goes masked for a single reason—to terrorize Americans into quiescence. Small wonder ICE often seems to need our respected military to guard them as they go about implementing our immigration laws. It should be noted that our troops do not ordinarily wear masks. Can you imagine a masked marine? It is a matter of honor—and honor still matters.”
Human Rights Watch also warned that these practices increase the risk of criminal impersonation. The group noted that media outlets have reported cases of individuals posing as federal agents to kidnap, sexually assault, and extort victims by exploiting fears of immigration enforcement. When real officers themselves are unidentifiable, the organization said, the danger to the public is compounded.
The organization called on Congress to “investigate the brutality of the ongoing immigration enforcement activities, including the specific impacts of unidentifiable agents carrying out stops and arrests on impeding investigations and accountability efforts.” Legislative responses are already underway, including the No Secret Police Act and No Masks for ICE Act in the House and the VISIBLE Act in the Senate, which would require legible identification and limit nonmedical face coverings for immigration enforcement officers.
Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York, a lead sponsor of the No Secret Police Act, said anonymity has no place in democratic policing. “If you uphold the peace of a democratic society, you should not be anonymous,” Espaillat said. “DHS and ICE agents wearing masks and hiding identification echoes the tactics of secret police authoritarian regimes—and deviates from the practices of local law enforcement, which contributes to confusion in communities.”
Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch, said the issue goes to the core of accountability and public safety. “Allowing masked, unidentified agents to roam communities and apprehend people without identifying themselves erodes trusts in the rule of law and creates a dangerous vacuum where abuses can flourish, exacerbating the unnecessary violence and brutality of the arrests,” Wille said.
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