Why ICE Agents Mask Themselves

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As the Trump administration’s deportation campaign has ramped up, so too have the number of federal officers and agents wearing masks. That’s according to Atlantic staff writer Nick Miroff, who says that face coverings have become “a standard accessory for federal immigration enforcement, and a symbol of the mass-deportation campaign that is Trump’s top domestic-policy initiative.” In a rebuke, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law banning the use of masks by federal agents in the state, but questions about its enforceability remain as the administration challenges the law with a new suit filed Monday. We talk to Miroff about what masking means for public trust in law enforcement. His new piece is called “Why They Mask.” Guests: Nick Miroff, staff writer covering immigration, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S.-Mexico border, The Atlantic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Sponsorship of this podcast comes from Stanford Summer Session, allowing visiting students to study at
0:06.1	Stanford for an academic term. Learn more at summer.standford.edu.
0:11.9	Sources and methods, the crown jewels of the intelligence community, shorthand for,
0:17.4	how do we know what's real, who told us? If you have those answers, you're on the inside,
0:22.5	and NPR wants to bring you there, from the Pentagon to the State Department to spy agencies,
0:27.9	listen to understand what's really happening and what it means for you. Sources and methods,
0:32.7	the new national security podcast from NPR.
0:36.6	From KQED.
0:39.8	Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
0:42.8	Nick Miroff's latest piece for The Atlantic takes a closer look at the impact of ice
0:46.8	agents wearing face coverings during aggressive immigration enforcement operations.
0:51.4	Called Why They Mask, his story comes as the Trump administration asks a federal
0:56.2	court to stop California's new law banning face masks on federal agents from taking effect in
1:02.1	January. Nick Mirov joins me now. Welcome to Forum.
1:06.0	Hi, Mina, good to be with you again. So, Nick, it was striking to read and remember from your piece that before this
1:12.6	year, ICE's work happened, as you say, more quietly and administratively. You've covered
1:18.8	immigration a long time. Talk about what it was like traditionally. Yeah, I mean, you know,
1:25.8	ICE officers are trained to do what they call targeted enforcement.
1:31.4	You know, they generally, when they go out to make an arrest, they know who they're looking for.
1:37.7	They've done some kind of research and surveillance on that person.
1:40.4	But a lot of what ICE officers, you know, have been doing, especially under the Biden administration,
1:44.5	was more akin to kind of a case management, you know, have been doing, especially under the Biden administration, was more akin to kind of a case management, you know, their people are coming to check in with,
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 13 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.