Donald Trump is unmasking villains like an episode of “Scooby-Doo” with the sudden reversal of orders given to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
ICE agents have long operated behind masks, moving with a kind of untouchable authority that made them feel larger than life during his second presidency — but that image is suddenly starting to crack.
Trump deployed ICE agents to major airports on March 23 amid mounting TSA callouts and travel delays. Their usual masked presence — often associated with aggressive sweeps of pedestrians in cities like Minneapolis — gave the public a rare, unfiltered look at the men and women actually behind the mask.
“You know I’m a big believer that they should be able to wear masks when they go and hunt down, you know, murderers, criminals, and others, but for purposes of the airport, I requested that they take off the masks,” Trump told reporters on Mar. 23.
“I don’t like it for the airport, and I believe they are willing to do that,” the president explained, noting, “I think it’s a very appropriate look when they’re out in the street.”
The enforcement officers have been terrorizing figures, often seen obscuring their faces from view by wearing black balaclavas. The moment the masks came off, something shifted — and it wasn’t just their appearance. Footage from inside major airports shows ICE agents who once moved with quiet authority now turning away from cameras. The contrast hasn’t gone unnoticed, with viewers pointing out how different the energy feels now that their faces are visible. It’s raising a question that keeps popping up across social media: what are they trying so hard not to be seen doing?
COLLINS: So ICE shouldn't wear masks at the airport but they should out in the country?
TRUMP: Because the people coming into the airport typically speaking aren't murderers, killers, drug dealers, etc pic.twitter.com/mPdtKAq3pa
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 23, 2026
At New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, clips show agents rushing through terminals, flashing lights at cameras, pulling their ball caps down to hide their eyes, and some changing their path to avoid media. Still, their faces are increasingly being exposed, and countless people are thrilled about it.
“No masks we know who you are now!!! Run baby run,” an IG Threads user wrote. Someone else commented, “This is a Joke. They’re standing around airports, getting twice the pay with bonuses while TSA employees haven’t been paid in months.” A third person joked, “Lol. They all look out of shape and broke.”
TSA has not been paid since the partial government shutdown began on Feb. 14. Lawmakers have been unable to agree on a funding bill. People ribbing an overweight ICE agent making a run for the bathroom were more jovial in their reactions.
NOW: ICE Agents seen running from Photographers and patrolling at JFK Airport in NYC as massive TSA Security lines continue at US Airports
Video by Diego Luzuriaga | Licensing @FreedomNTV [email protected] pic.twitter.com/2bjBmKVrZm
— Oliya Scootercaster
(@ScooterCasterNY) March 23, 2026
A second man was seen speed walking toward the bathroom while keeping his gray baseball cap down and holding his collar.
They wrote remarks like, “That dude was running to TSA cafeteria heard there was free Pizza, only explanation.” Another individual blasted, “Scardycats!! Why you running away that you don’t want to be seen? Like what are you hiding?”
Another video shows a black man with dreadlocks pretending to be on the phone. He repeatedly yelled, “Stop following us, please. “Stop following us, please. Have a good day, have a good day, fellas,” encouraged the people following him with a camera to back off.
View on Threads
Roughly a month after the shutdown, Trump dismissed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem amid scrutiny over agency practices, while critics blamed him for unrest in Minneapolis and “creating chaos” at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport, prompting Mayor Andre Dickens to confirm ICE’s deployment.
“Don’t even bother traveling right now,” said one woman in a video circulating on Threads.
The shift from masked authority to visible hesitation isn’t new in Trump’s orbit, where image control often takes center stage.
It’s the same playbook critics pointed to when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s team reportedly barred photographers from after “unflattering” images from a March 2 briefing surfaced online. Hegseth didn’t like what he saw, and since photographers have been kept out of two briefings on March 4 and March 10.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson released a statement with new rules, stating that, “In order to use space in the Pentagon Briefing Room effectively, we are allowing one representative per news outlet if uncredentialed, excluding pool.”
“Photographs from the briefings are immediately released online for the public and press to use. If that hurts the business model for certain news outlets, then they should consider applying for a Pentagon press credential.”
His boss has shown sensitivity to how he appears on camera after blasting photographers during the Jan. 6 GOP retreat at the Kennedy Center. “Make me look thin for a change, Doug,” Trump said, calling out “fake news” photojournalist Doug Mills, who was present in the room. “You’re making me look a little big and heavy; I’m not happy about it.”
Now, with ICE agents stepping into the spotlight without masks, the reaction suggests something has shifted — and not entirely as intended.
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