WASHINGTON -- Top Democrats on Wednesday seemed to soften their demand to ban masks on federal agents.
In a press conference outlining their push for changes to immigration enforcement policies at the Department of Homeland Security, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) described, for the first time, small qualifications to their "no mask" demands.
"I think there's agreement that no masks should be deployed in an arbitrary and capricious fashion, as has been the case, horrifying the American people," Jeffries said.
Schumer followed with a similar caveat, saying immigration authorities "need identification and no masks, except in extraordinary and unusual circumstances."
In remarks this week, Schumer and Jeffries have been wholly dismissive of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers wearing masks.
"Police officers don't wear masks. Sheriffs don't wear masks. State troopers don't wear masks. There's no justification for the manner in which ICE is conducting itself in terms of masks," Jeffries said Tuesday in an interview with "PBS News Hour."
"Defending ICE agents wearing masks and giving them special treatment, especially when they are so brutal and thuggy, is totally against the views of most Americans who want basic accountability," Schumer said Tuesday on the Senate floor.
The apparent shift may reflect the difficulty Democrats face in forcing Republicans to agree to reforms for Border Patrol and ICE amid the Trump administration's deadly immigration crackdown in Minnesota. Democrats said they would formally outline their demands on Thursday; so far, they've staked out their position solely through their public comments.
A Democratic aide said Democrats are just making sure the legislative text they propose is consistent with general best practices for law enforcement.
Republican leaders have rejected the idea of banning masks, claiming federal officers need to hide their identities to avoid being doxed. Still, with Trump's blessing, they agreed to separate funding for the Department of Homeland Security from other federal agencies this week, setting up a 10-day dash for lawmakers to negotiate a bipartisan deal before DHS runs out of funding.
After the press conference, Schumer ignored a question from HuffPost about whether Democrats had changed their position on masks. But Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who joined Jeffries and Schumer behind the lectern, said there has been no significant shift.
"Just common sense dictates that there are sometimes safety reasons why you may need a mask," Murphy told HuffPost. "But no, I think our position is very clear, that if you're using a mask to obscure your identity in everyday law enforcement, that should be prohibited by law."
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who also participated in the press conference, said Democrats were speaking to law enforcement experts about what the mask exceptions should be.
"You heard the leaders talk about narrow exceptions, et cetera, which will have to do with trying to get that information from our law enforcement people about, you know, if you're dealing with a cartel," she said. "This is to take a look at what those narrow exceptions should be, and that's reasonable."
Most Republicans, so far, have shown no interest in unmasking federal officers in any circumstances, saying they face terroristic threats from left-wing activists.
"They're trying to find their hotels. They're trying to find out where they go to church. They're trying to find out everything about them and dox them," Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) told HuffPost.
But Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said a wholesale mask ban would be way worse than a tailored one.