During his CBS interview, Lyons acknowledged that his agents can continue to hide their faces while on the job, as a growing number of Democratic-leaning states and cities are considering proposals to ban federal immigration agents from wearing masks and require them to display identification when making arrests, per Axios’ reporting. Since Trump took office, multiple men in multiple states have posed as ICE agents and targeted immigrant women to sexually assault them.
When pressed on concerns about masked ICE officers and the possibility that imposters could exploit the practice by posing as immigration agents, Lyons said, “That’s one of our biggest concerns. And I’ve said it publicly before, I’m not a proponent of the masks.”
“However,” he continued, “if that’s a tool that the men and women of ICE to keep themselves and their family safe, then I will allow it,” Lyons said, adding, “I do kind of push back on the criticism that they don’t identify themselves.”
According to the Department of Homeland Security, attacks against ICE officials have increased by more than 800% this year compared to the same time period in 2024, a shift that Lyons attributes, in part, to the dramatic expansion in immigration arrests and people seeing ICE more and more in their communities.
“So you are seeing us out more, and I think there is more of a tension,” Lyons said. “The immigration mission is one of the forefront of this administration, so it is a lot of scrutiny and publicity to it.”
Lyons also blamed areas with sanctuary laws— or states, counties, or cities that put some restrictions on how much they are willing to cooperate with federal agencies’ crackdown on undocumented immigration—saying that, by not turning over noncitizens, local officials are forcing agents to go into communities to find people.
According to internal government data obtained by CBS News, ICE has recorded nearly 150,000 deportations since Trump took office six months ago. And, now that Trump’s funding package has bumped the agency’s annual budget from $8 billion to roughly $28 billion—making it the highest funded law enforcement agency in the federal government—ICE is hoping to ramp up an already unprecedented operation.
The acting director also confirmed to CBS that the administration will continue worksite immigration enforcement. This policy, a break in the Biden-era pause on large-scale raids where people work, has come under fire amid concerns from employers that these detainment operations were hurting their businesses. In June, the Trump administration issued a halt to immigration roundups at farms, hotels, and restaurants—but that directive only lasted days.
Lyons said they’re going to go after employers, too.
“Not only are we focused on those individuals that are, you know, working here illegally, we’re focused on these American companies that are actually exploiting these laborers,” he said. Lyons then refers to migrant workers, who his agency has been seeking out, detaining, and deporting, as “people that came here for a better life.”