A pair of Oregon lawmakers want to see federal law enforcement officers — such as agents for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — unmasked as they do their work in the state.

State Reps. Tom Andersen and Cyrus Javadi, of Salem and Tillamook respectively, announced this week they aim to amend Oregon’s constitution to forbid law enforcement from wearing masks in most cases. The ban wouldn’t apply under some circumstances, like undercover work or SWAT teams, the lawmakers said.

Any proposal to amend the state’s Constitution has to be approved by voters.

“We as Oregonians need to take a stand against these totally ‘secret police’ tactics,” Andersen told OPB.

The move comes as federal agents, under the second Trump administration, have aggressively enforced deportation efforts across the state and the U.S., often while keeping their faces hidden.

Across the Pacific Northwest, ICE agents have apprehended more people in the first seven months of 2025 than in all of 2024. That includes farmworkers in the Willamette Valley and a doctor dropping off his child at day care.

Northwest politicians call for ban on ICE officers’ masking practice

Both lawmakers said their aim is about ensuring the government is operating in broad daylight and can be held accountable. They also raised concerns about a proliferation of anonymous police giving rise to impersonators with bad intentions.

“We want to make sure the public isn’t being duped,” said Javadi, who announced plans Friday to switch political parties from Republican to Democratic.

Federal law enforcement agencies have defended their mask usage by saying they are in greater danger than in recent history. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently said ICE agents are facing a “1,000% increase in assaults against them as they risk their lives to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.”

Noem’s claims may not be verifiable, but federal agents and protesters have clashed repeatedly near an ICE facility in Portland. Agents have made numerous claims about their injuries, including being hurt with their own munitions and being “donkey-kicked” in the shins, while keeping their names redacted in court records.

Masked immigration agents are spurring fear and confusion across the U.S.

Javadi said he’s sympathetic to concerns about officers being doxed — having their personal information like home addresses are posted online — but said he is prioritizing the public’s ability to hold them accountable. He said his decision is strengthened by the recent National Guard deployment in Washington D.C.

“I think people start to worry, ‘Could this be me?’” Javadi said.

It remains to be seen whether a law passed at the state level could mandate any real policy change for federal law enforcement, however. Federal laws typically override state laws, per the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause.

Andersen said he understands the unmasking proposal might lead to a legal debate and ultimately be left up to judges.

“We need to have the courts look at this one way or the other,” Andersen said. “And that’s fine with me, but we have to take a stand right now.”

“The longer we let this go,” he added, “the worse it’s going to get.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/05/andersen-javadi-lawmakers-unmask-federal-agents/