Today, Attorney General Dan Rayfield and a coalition of 20 attorneys general in sent a letter to members of Congress, urging them to pass legislation generally prohibiting federal immigration agents from wearing masks to conceal their identity and requiring them to show their identification and agency-identifying insignia.

In the letter, the coalition expressed concern over escalating incidents involving masked Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officers dressed in plainclothes and driving unmarked vehicles detaining individuals on streets, at homes, workplaces, and courthouses. The coalition criticizes ICE’s opaque conduct as a stark departure from the transparency and accountability long practiced by traditional law enforcement agencies. These tactics, the letter states, pose significant safety risks and instill fear rather than foster public safety.

“Oregonians—and all Americans—deserve to know when they’re interacting with law enforcement,” said Attorney General Dan Rayfield. “When federal agents operate in secret—masked, unmarked, and unaccountable—it erodes public trust, endangers communities, and opens the door to abuse. These aren’t just policy concerns—they’re safety concerns. Transparency and identification are basic principles of democratic policing, and Congress must act to ensure those standards apply to immigration enforcement, too.”

Without clear identification, the attorneys general warn that individuals may not recognize the agents as federal officers, which may prompt bystander intervention, tie up local law enforcement resources, or even escalate dangerous situations. The letter also raises the concern that this lack of identification has enabled individuals to impersonate ICE agents to exploit or harm members of the community.

While the coalition acknowledges that limited protective measures may be appropriate for federal agents in certain situations, they warn that widespread, unchecked use of masks and plainclothes enforcement undermines democratic principles, erodes public trust, and invites civil rights abuses. The coalition urges Congress to pass legislation to ensure that federal immigration agents operate under clear guidelines that promote transparency and accountability.

In sending this letter, Attorney General Rayfield is joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.