Homeland Security Secretary Says He Backs Enhanced Penalties for Protesters Who Dox ICE Agents

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Wednesday said that he backs stronger penalties for protesters or rioters who attempt to reveal the identity of federal immigration agents.

Mullin referenced Democrat-led proposals to require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to be unmasked while performing their duties. Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was partially shut down for weeks as Democratic lawmakers pushed for such a mask requirement, among other policy directives that were largely rejected by Republicans.

“If we want to eliminate the officers from having to wear masks, then increase the penalties,” Mullin told House lawmakers on Wednesday. “If they doxx them, they threaten them in any way whatsoever, it should be a very stiff penalty to get all their attention,” he said, using a term to describe the malicious act of exposing an individual’s private information online

He added, “Those that are funding the protest should also be held accountable the same way.”

The secretary referenced a case against a Brooklyn man who, according to federal prosecutors, threatened to assault and murder an ICE officer along with the agent’s family. The suspect, 27-year-old Nicholas Matthew Scelfo, was arrested after he made the threats outside an ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey, on May 27, the Justice Department said.

“This officer that was threatened didn’t have a mask on, but he does have a family,” Mullin said. “What’s interesting is they knew his family because they’re very sophisticated. These aren’t just peaceful rioters or peaceful protesters out there. They’re well funded, and they have technology.”

In a statement provided by the Justice Department on June 1, Mullin said ICE agents are facing an 8,000 percent increase in death threats since the Trump administration took over.

A day before the House hearing, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) provided an outline to Mullin about what Democrats want in a funding bill. ICE agents, she said on Tuesday, should have to wear body cameras along with “restoring basic training and hiring standards, requiring warrants, ending racial profiling, banning enforcement actions in sensitive locations, like schools, hospitals, and houses of worship” as well as “taking off the masks and requiring visible identification.”

Democrats started making the push to issue more requirements for ICE agents after two federal immigration officer-related shooting deaths earlier this year in Minneapolis.

Some Democrat-led states such as New York and California have laws that restrict ICE officers from wearing masks. In California, a federal judge blocked the state mask ban but said that ICE agents’ badges must be clearly visible.

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit in November challenging the laws, arguing that they would threaten the safety of officers who are facing harassment, doxxing, and violence and that they violated the Constitution because the state is directly regulating the federal government.

In April, Mullin was tapped to become Homeland Security secretary after President Donald Trump announced then-Secretary Kristi Noem would be stepping down from her role. Before he was named to the position, Mullin was a Republican senator from Oklahoma.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.