New York City elected officials plan to introduce a new bill that would prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from wearing masks or other face coverings while acting as federal agents.
The proposed legislation is called the Mandating End to Lawless Tactics, or MELT, Act. City officials claim ICE agents wearing masks while making arrests is both illegal and stoking fear in the community.
On Wednesday morning, City Comptroller Brad Lander, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and Assemblymember Tony Simone unveiled the bill, which they said is in direct response to a recent increase in ICE funding, something city officials say will bolster the agency’s presence in New York City.
Lander spoke about what he claims are the dangers of masked ICE agents.
“It is, as the assemblymember made clear, done for the purpose of striking fear into asylum seekers and immigrants, with the hopes that they will be terrorized by masked gangs who seek to grab and abduct them,” Lander said.
Lander has tangled with ICE agents before, having been arrested by them back on June 17 after defending a man who had just had his case dismissed in immigration court.
ICE has said in the past that face coverings are for its agents’ protection, as threats against them have drastically increased since President Trump took office.
CBS News New York reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
NYC officials warn of ICE detainment at immigration court
Lander joined Rep. Dan Goldman and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams on Tuesday morning to witness firsthand what happens inside immigration courts, as city officials report some immigrants who show up face immediate detainment regardless of what is decided in the courtroom.
“This is an emergency for our democracy,” Lander said. “As soon as they leave the courtroom, they are abducted by masked federal agents, many of them not wearing uniforms or badges, with, let’s be clear, no legal basis for their abduction.”
ICE data analyzed by CBS News revealed the agency surpassed 100,000 arrests in early June, and by the third week of the month 59,000 were being held in ICE detention.
“We will continue the fight until this stops, until we regain who we are as a country and who we are as people and until this administration follows the law,” Goldman said.