A Massachusetts state Democrat on Wednesday introduced a bill to ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from wearing face masks, which the agency has defended as a way to protect officials from getting doxxed.

An increasing number of Democrats across the federal, state, and local levels of government are spearheading legislation to combat ICE officers’ mask-wearing as they conduct immigration raids. The latest Democrat to do so is Massachusetts state Rep. James Hawkins, who wants to end the practice.

Recommended Stories

• 'Mosquitoes size of elephants': Detainees complain about 'Alligator Alcatraz' conditions
• Microsoft applied to fill thousands of foreign worker positions in months before mass layoffs
• Four arrested for using 'improvised devices' to damage Border Patrol vehicles in Los Angeles

“A law enforcement officer shall not wear any mask or personal disguise while interacting with the public in the performance of their duties, except for medical grade masks that are surgical or N95 respirators designed to prevent the transmission of airborne diseases and masks designed to protect against exposure to smoke or toxins during a state of emergency,” the bill reads, calling for an addition to the Massachusetts Penal Code.

Any law enforcement officer in violation of the proposed section would face a misdemeanor.

The legislation, co-sponsored by 10 additional Democratic state representatives, also requires officers to display their name or badge number on their uniforms.

In filing the bill, Hawkins cited an incident involving the Department of Homeland Security’s arrest of a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University in March. Video footage shows masked officers detaining Rumeysa Ozturk, whose student visa was revoked after she supported Hamas.

“It’s to stop law enforcement agencies, mainly ICE, from detaining people with their masks on,” Hawkins told reporters this week. “I believe in law and order and due process, and that’s not happening. So we need to call attention to that and address it.”

ICE defends its use of mask-wearing, citing a 700% increase in assaults on its officers amid a rise in doxxing.

“People are out there taking photos of their names, of their faces, and posting them online with death threats to their family and themselves,” acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said in Boston last month. “So, I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there, put their lives and put their family on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is.”

Like Massachusetts, New York City is considering legislation to prohibit ICE agents from wearing masks.

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who was arrested by federal agents at an immigration courthouse in June, argued that ICE’s use of masks is about “striking fear” into illegal immigrants.

In Congress, Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) unveiled a similar bill requiring law enforcement officers to display visible identification when engaged in immigration operations.

ICE AGENTS WEARING MASKS TO ARREST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS SET OFF POLITICAL FIRESTORM

Critics, including President Donald Trump, argue such legislation will only encourage more attacks on ICE officials.

“You put them in great danger, tremendous danger,” Trump said to Democrats calling for ICE agents to be unmasked.