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Masked, armed law enforcement operating without accountability has a long history in America — from the Ku Klux Klan’s white hoods to today’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) masks. ICE’s current practice of concealing agents’ faces and badge numbers mirrors the Klan’s historic use of anonymity to commit violence while evading responsibility.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Klan members were often deputized to enforce segregation and prohibition laws, using terror to control marginalized communities. Their masks shielded them from prosecution, leading states to pass anti-mask laws — New York’s as early as 1845 — to prevent disguised, armed enforcement. Over time, at least seventeen states banned masked men from carrying out intimidation or crimes.
California recently passed the “No Secret Police Act” (SB 627) to stop masked law enforcement operations, though Governor Gavin Newsom has not enforced it. Supporters say it’s a response to ICE’s “secret police” tactics, especially under the Trump administration, which critics claim foster racial profiling and violent raids.
While some ICE agents may not share the Klan’s ideology, their anonymous, unaccountable operations echo the same dangers — state-backed violence without oversight. When government agents hide their identities, they are signaling not safety, but something to fear.
