Dan Goldman Questions Kristi Noem on ICE Agents Wearing Masks and Asylum

Asylum Claims and Lawful Pathways

• ❓ Rep. Dan Goldman questioned Secretary Noem about the number of asylum claims since January 21st, which she stated she did not have readily available.
• 💡 Goldman affirmed that asylum is a lawful pathway into the country.
• 📜 He referenced the historical implementation of asylum laws, particularly for Jews fleeing the Holocaust, who were rounded up by the Gestapo.

ICE Agents Wearing Masks

• 🎭 Secretary Noem stated that agents wear masks as part of their undercover disguise or to protect their identity to continue their duties.
• 🧐 Goldman questioned whether an agent putting on a mask when alerted to being videotaped during an arrest is truly to protect identity from the arrestee.
• ⚠️ Noem indicated that agents are permitted to wear face masks if it is imperative for protecting their policies, but was uncertain if this was explicitly in written policy.
• ⚖️ Goldman found it ironic that the administration seeks to ban masks from anti-semitic protests while law enforcement wears them to hide identities.