Federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conduct an inspection operation after detaining a migrant near a Home Depot in the Little Village neighborhood, where Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is scheduled to hold a press conference, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., September 9, 2025. REUTERS/Octavio Jones
President Donald Trump's efforts to deport immigrants have created a "frightening" possibility, according to a former GOP lawmaker.
Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican representative from Illinois, joined CNN's Jake Tapper on "The Lead" on Wednesday to discuss how the public has responded to Trump's deportation operations. Kinzinger said the negative reviews that the operations have received appear to have had no impact on the conduct of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
"I think the Trump administration has basically laid their argument and placed their bets on the fact that they have enough people in America that will support them no matter what," Kinzinger said. "Short of the Supreme Court coming down and saying you're violating this by that...I don't think it's going to change anything."
"The idea of agents wearing masks, not identifying themselves, there's going to be a day when somebody is going to pretend to be an ICE agent, or a day when an ICE agent is misidentified as somebody who's an attacker, and something bad's going to happen," Kinsinger added. It's a frightening situation."
The fact that immigration officers often wear masks covering their faces during raids has become a hotly debated topic. California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed a law prohibiting ICE officers from wearing masks. The Trump administration has argued that agents should wear the masks to protect themselves.