Among the initial demands Democrats made to end the partial federal government shutdown was that federal immigration enforcement agents start dressing like law enforcement officers, rather than a paramilitary force.
The military look has raised questions for months as videos spread of masked ICE and Border Patrol agents wearing body armor, helmets with mounts for night vision devices, and camouflage clothing. The camouflage obviously isn't designed for concealment on the streets of Minneapolis or in suburban home improvement store parking lots.
"It's not your friendly neighborhood cop walking the beat, right? It feels like a takeover, feels like an invasion," said Charles McFarlane, a costume historian and journalist who writes a Substack called Combat Threads that focuses on the intersection of pop culture and the military.
McFarlane says the agents' aesthetic is derived from elite military units and has spread to other units, agencies, and even civilians. It's also become omnipresent in popular culture, including movies and gaming.
Special operations troops, he said, are essentially the influencers of the military world.
"They set the agenda as far as what's considered cool or not cool in this space," McFarlane said.
The look isn't completely consistent, but there are some common elements, he said, including military vests and camouflage.
"And a hefty beard is often kind of part and parcel," McFarlane said.
The camouflage is typically a versatile variant called MultiCam which was first used by elite units and now is often seen on civilians, and not just at gun ranges.
"I'm literally looking out my window right now, and there's a man walking his dog, wearing MultiCam pants," McFarlane said during an interview. "I mean quite literally right now."
He said what ICE and Border Patrol agents are wearing and carrying isn't strictly about efficiently rounding up undocumented immigrants.
"When you start to see uniforms less as completely utilitarian, and more as trying to send messages both to an 'in group' and an 'out group,' I think it kind of unlocks a lot of things," he said.
He says one thing their outfits are trying to convey is a sense of competence. Even though some agents trained only a few weeks, they're trying to look like the military’s highly-trained elite special operations troops.
And he says another goal is to instill fear.
"There is a menacing quality," he said. "They're wearing body armor that's making them basically one and a half times bigger than they actually are."
Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn't respond to queries about the uniforms and gear. Neither did Border Patrol or their parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
"I'd be interested in what the guys in the Special Forces community think of this gear being worn in this way, whether they think it's ridiculous or not," McFarlane said.
Mr. McFarlane, meet Dan Barkhuff, former Navy Seal and Afghanistan combat vet, and now a emergency medicine doctor.
"You know, when I was 10 years old, I had a Patriots jersey, right? ... It's like, 'Look at me. I'm a big-leaguer,'" he said.
"I don't think you need to look like you're Delta Force to arrest someone," Barkhuff said. "And this blurring of Special Forces with cops ... I mean, those are different jobs."
After reviewing several photos of immigration agents in the field, including those at the sites of the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Barkhuff said their gear was wrong for what the agents are apparently doing.
"Those guys are dressed like they're going on a CQB mission," he said, referring to "Close Quarters Battle," high-intensity fighting, often indoors.
Some in videos from Minneapolis and elsewhere are carrying rifles configured for CQB, with short barrels and sound suppressors and even aiming lasers. Some are carrying extra magazines for those rifles giving them 90 rounds or more.
"They are not dressed even like they're doing a foot patrol, you know, they're not dressed for land warfare," Barkhuff said. "They're dressed for going into a house and shooting someone."
Many are wearing vests with heavy plates made to stop rifle bullets, but that would make it hard to chase someone fleeing on foot.
"You can't run in that stuff," Barkhuff said. "That's just made for fighting. It's not made for running in."
He said such uniforms and gear inevitably contribute to aggressive attitudes and an us-versus-them mindset.
"When I got kitted up and got in a Humvee, I felt damn near as invincible as it's possible to feel with a bunch of other guys, and we all felt that," Barkhuff said. "Which, again, is useful in a combat environment; it's not useful in a policing environment."
Meanwhile, others who typically wear military uniforms are taking steps to prevent being mistaken for immigration agents.
When the Minnesota National Guard was activated to support local law enforcement during the immigration operation, they wore brightly-colored reflective vests. Simon Schaefer, a Deputy State Adjutant General, says the vests are both for safety — especially while on foot in traffic — and to distinguish the National Guard from other agencies.
"We are representing the communities that we live in, that we work in, and so being more visible, and it's the safety of our members, but also it shows the public that the National Guard is present and contributing," he said.
McFarlane, the costume historian, notes that in recent weeks he's heard more people mocking how the agents are dressed. He said the gulf between that high-end appearance and their methods and tactics may be eroding the menace of the look.
"I think at this particular moment, we are at kind of a hinge point," he said. "I think it's going to start to look more and more absurd."
This story was produced by the American Homefront Project, a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veterans.
