ICE Agents Hide Identities, Face Legal Pushback Across US Courts

Immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump's administration has intensified nationwide, with ICE agents increasingly conducting arrests at immigration courthouses and in public spaces, often while masking their identities and using unmarked vehicles. In Arizona, state officials and the attorney general have criticized ICE's use of masks and covert tactics during arrests at court hearings, arguing it undermines public trust and violates constitutional rights. Similarly, in New York, some immigration judges have started not publicly naming ICE attorneys during deportation hearings, citing privacy concerns, a practice that legal experts deem unprecedented and harmful to transparency and accountability in immigration courts. This concealment of ICE attorneys' identities in courtrooms has drawn sharp criticism from immigration lawyers and scholars, who warn it shields the government from ethical scrutiny and compromises the fairness of proceedings. In North Carolina, ICE’s arrests at the Charlotte immigration courthouse have increased significantly, but the agency refuses to release the names of those detained, citing privacy laws, which hampers external verification of detainees' backgrounds or criminal records. Overall, these developments reflect a broader pattern of aggressive immigration enforcement tactics that raise serious concerns about due process, transparency, and the relationship between immigrant communities and law enforcement.