Masked law enforcement officers, including HSI and ICE agents, in Phoenix. REUTERS/Caitlin O'HaraWASHINGTON — Masked ICE agents are the mysterious and menacing face of the Trump administration’s mass deportation drive.Increasingly alarmed, Democrats are trying to conduct oversight on the Depa...

Masked law enforcement officers, including HSI and ICE agents, in Phoenix. REUTERS/Caitlin O'Hara

WASHINGTON — Masked ICE agents are the

, American policing had been bending slowly towards transparency, according to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a former state attorney general.

Whilemanypolice forces and unions initially resisted body cameras, they’ve now become the norm in major cities.

“Even body cams are there to show the public that in fact [officers] behaved well,” Whitehouse said. “So I think that's the message [of ICE agents masking and operating without badges.] They intend to create a sort of image of creepiness and unaccountability, because that helps with the fear that they're trying to inculcate.”

That’s why Whitehouse and most other Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are vehemently opposed to officers wearing masks.

“It's not consistent with the best traditions of American law enforcement,” Whitehouse told Raw Story. “It conjures unpleasant images. It runs contrary to the transparency that we customarily worked on, where people's name and badge number has to be visible.”