Federal Officers Reportedly Wear Horror Masks to L.A. Immigration Raids as DHS Tells Media ‘Happy Halloween!’

Federal Agents Criticized for Wearing Horror Masks During Halloween ICE Raid

Federal agents conducting an immigration raid in Los Angeles drew attention after being spotted wearing masks of horror movie characters, according to reports from NBC News and LA Taco.

On Tuesday, Oct. 28, two immigration agents were seen leaving an ICE staging area in unmarked vehicles — one wearing a Chucky mask and the other a Momo mask, the outlets reported. A Harbor Area Peace Patrol activist told NBC News that the individual in the Momo mask was present during the same-day immigration operation.

When asked about the incident, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin responded, “Happy Halloween!” according to NBC News. She did not clarify whether those in costume were ICE officers or Border Patrol agents.

The agency later posted on X, sharing a clip from a Newsmax segment that highlighted ICE’s arrest of five individuals on Halloween. “Forget ghosts or ghouls—the true horror is the violent criminal illegal aliens, who sanctuary politicians protect, putting the safety of Americans at risk,” the Oct. 31 post read. “Halloween is a little less scary this year with these monsters off American streets.”

The reports emerged amid President Donald Trump’s recent threats to send a “surge” of immigration enforcement agents to San Francisco — a plan he later abandoned after discussions with “friends of mine who live in the area” and Mayor Daniel Lurie.

“Friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge in that the Mayor, Daniel Lurie, was making substantial progress,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Oct. 23. “I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around.”

Earlier that week, Bay Area residents protested ICE raids and violent arrests that had taken place in other cities such as Chicago, Portland, and Washington, D.C.

As raids continued in Chicago, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson denounced the federal operations. On Wednesday, Oct. 29, Pritzker urged DHS to suspend immigration arrests until after Halloween, citing the use of tear gas by Border Patrol agents on Oct. 25 while children were present for a Halloween parade.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem rejected the governor’s request, telling reporters on Oct. 30 that the department was “absolutely not willing to put on pause any work that we will do to keep communities safe,” according to C-SPAN.

“The fact that Gov. Pritzker is asking for that is shameful and, I think, unfortunate that he doesn’t recognize how important the work is that we do to make sure we’re bringing criminals to justice and getting them off our streets,” Noem said. “Especially when we’re going to send all of our kiddos out on the streets and going to events and enjoying the holiday season.”