Washington – In a special interview, Todd Leone, acting director of American immigration and customs enforcement, told CBS News that he is not a “proposer” of agents wearing masks during the arrest operation, but he said he would allow to continue the practice due to concerns about the safety of his officers.
He also confirmed the ICE schemes that people with criminal history were also included to find out the suspicion of illegal living in the US to use data from government programs such as Medicid.
Masked ice officials and concerns about the possibility were pressurized that people presenting as immigration agents could take advantage of the practice, Lyon said, “This is one of our biggest concerns. And I have publicly said it publicly, I am not a mask proposer.”
“However, if it is a tool that ice men and women to protect themselves and their family, I would allow it,” Leones said during their first television network Sit-Down interview at the Ice Headquarter in Washington. “I push back on criticism that they do not identify themselves.”
Asked if he would allow snow workers to wear masks, Lyon said, “I will.”
On Sunday, July 20 at 10:30 am, the interview with Leon will be broadcast more on ET “Face the Nation with Margaret Brainon”.
Leones cited an increase in attacks faced by agents of agents at the center of President Trump’s promise to complete the biggest exile operation in American history.
The Homeland Security Department has said that in 2024, the attacks against ICE officials have increased by more than 800% this year as compared to the same period. Several examples of violence guided on ice agents and facilities in recent weeks have also included an armed attack against a detention center in Texas earlier this month, which has been for more than a dozen arrests.
Leone agreed that the increase in attacks faced by ice agents could partially be held responsible for dramatic expansion in immigration arrest under another Trump administration, admitting that the agency “is more visible in the community.”
But he argued that his agents are being forced to go into communities more often to arrest people living in the US illegally, including criminal records, as more cities and states have adopted “sanctuary” policies that limit local law enforcement cooperation with snow. Those policies lead several courts when they release prisoners who are illegally in the US.
“So you are looking at us more, and I think there is more tension,” Lyon said. “Immigration mission is at the forefront of this administration, so it is a lot of investigation and publicity.”
Leon says Medicade data will be used illegally to “detect” in the US
CBS News also asked about Leones Report from Associated Press An inter-agency agreement had provided ice access to millions of medicid enrolls, including names, addresses, social security numbers and data on patients’ races and ethnicity.
Leones said the ice “is working with all our other federal partners, so that they can try to get intelligence, to find out these persons who have been exiled by a judge or issued from a sanctuary jurisdiction as we have talked.
He cited “several” so-called “Got-way-way”, who illegally entered the US without being caught under the Biden administration and “bus completely disappeared from the grid”.
Leones suggested that the Ice would use various datasets, including labor and health and human service departments to detect the “worst” from the departments and gave them an order exiled from the US.
