A trio of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers defended their use of face masks as a security precaution in response to scrutiny from some lawmakers.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) was among lawmakers criticizing ICE officers for concealing their identity, comparing them to “masked bank robbers” this past week. In response to these criticisms, ICE deportation officer Edgardo Centeno said a lot of people believe the agency deals with cases solely related to immigration status, which he said was “wrong.”

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“Most of the criminals that we get out of the streets, they have a rap sheet, interpol notices, homicide, murderers, but people only think that we’re arresting them because of immigration,” Centeno said on Fox News’s My View with Lara Trump. “That’’s not true, and that’s how we change it, and that’s a reason some of us decided to cover our faces. It is scary! Social media is a madness out there.”

Fellow ICE officer Kristian Moreno discussed a story of an arrest he conducted involving an illegal immigrant with “a rap sheet,” including” convictions of drug trafficking. Moreno did not wear a face mask at the time, and the illegal immigrant’s daughter recorded her father’s arrest and shared it online, leaving Moreno unable to “tell my side of that story.”

ICE officer Christopher Sandoval said it was “really sad” how lawmakers are critical of ICE officers, saying these lawmakers are encouraging violence by “putting your words out there for someone else” to take action. He added that those carrying out violence against officers, such as “throwing rocks,” are not thinking about how their actions put both the officers and the public at risk.

ICE TO ACCESS PERSONAL MEDICAID INFORMATION TO CATCH ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Massachusetts Democratic state Rep. James Hawkins introduced a bill this month to ban ICE officers from wearing face masks, giving an exception to “medical grade masks” to prevent diseases. Any violations would face a misdemeanor.

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) has also introduced a bill to expand identification of ICE officers. The senator said ICE agents ought to display their name and agency “just like police and other local law enforcement agencies.”