Todd Lyons, the acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), clarified on Monday that ICE agents and officers routinely wear face due to the recently announced increase in threats to federal immigration officials, including to their spouses and family members.
Lyons confirmed the use of face masks by ICE agents during a Monday press conference, explaining the practice began after agents were doxxed during a joint operation with U.S. Secret Service in California earlier this year.
“A lot of agencies were invited to come out, two weeks ago, in Los Angeles, where we ran an operation where ICE officers were doxxed,” said Lyons, explaining that photographs of ICE agents were captured, then used to identify agents and their family members.
Lyons told reporters, “I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there, put their officers on their line, put their families on the line, because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is.”
He told reporters, “They are wearing those masks because we were in an operation with the Secret Service, when we arrested someone, taking their photos, posting their families, the kids’ Instagram, their kids’ Facebook, and targeting them.”
Why do @ICEgov agents wear masks?
ICE Director Todd Lyons emotional…saying his agents are being doxxed, harassed, and sent death threats.
People even threatening the agents children. pic.twitter.com/8zXvZp4QIn
— Alexis McAdams (@AlexisMcAdamsTV) June 2, 2025
His remarks were made in response to a question about ICE agents wearing masks during the recent immigration enforcement operation in Boston, Massachusetts, where law enforcement arrested nearly 1,500 illegal immigrants over the month of May. Officials said that 790 of those arrested “had significant criminal convictions or charges,” either in the United States or abroad.
They followed a recent announcement by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who said the rate of assaults against ICE officers has recently increased by 413 percent.
It also followed the revelation that Metro Nashville publicly posted the names and ranks of U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Investigations officials on a public database, an act that U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) called doxxing. Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell claimed the names were posted without bad intentions.
Ogles announced the start of a congressional probe into the mayor last week, with the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees seeking documents and internal communications related to the actions taken by O’Connell and his administration in response to an ICE enforcement operation that resulted in nearly 200 arrests.
These responses include the mayor’s announcement of a “Belonging Fund” to raise money for immigrants, which his office said received seed funding from nonprofits that received Biden-era stimulus money from Metro Nashville, as well as an executive order which mandates Metro employees inform the mayor and Office of New Americans of any communication with federal communication officials.
Watch the full press conference:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
I have no problem with ICE agents wearing masks. Do those complaining also complain about illegal aliens and terrorists who regularly wear masks? I feel strongly that those who impeded ICE activities should be arrested and bound over for trial. Only when they feel the consequences of their actions will they comport their behavior.