Joe Rogan Warns Masked ICE Agents Set 'Terrible Precedents'

Joe Rogan said on Friday's episode of The Joe Rogan Experience that masked federal immigration agents who carry no visible identification are setting a precedent the government could turn to other uses. Polling shows most Americans agree with him.

Rogan endorsed Donald Trump in 2024. His remarks, made four days before the midterm elections, are a rare objection from the host to how the administration is carrying out its immigration crackdown. He did not break with the crackdown itself. In the same answer he backed ICE in going after violent gangs, and moments earlier he said Trump had closed the border.

"Look, most people in this country don't like the idea of a militarized police force with no identification, just pulling people over. It opens up a world of problems. It sets terrible precedents." — Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan on ICE Masks and Identification

The exchange came during a conversation with Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin, hosts of the British podcast TRIGGERnometry. Kisin said Trump deserved credit for the border, and Rogan agreed: "He's closed the border."

He then turned to enforcement. "And this is what people that are pro ICE don't seem to understand. They could use that in another way," Rogan said. "Now we've set a precedent. You're allowed to have a militarized police force with masks on, and they don't have any identification. And they're snatching up people."

He said some of those detained "happen to be American citizens," and argued that supporters who accept the tactics as a cost of the policy are signing up for more than they think. "If you're allowing that, and that's normalized in society, that's not good," he said.

Rogan Still Backs ICE Against Gangs

Rogan then gave the other side of his view. "But at the same point, you do have a bunch of very dangerous criminals that Tren de Aragua people," he said, naming the Venezuelan gang that the administration designated a foreign terrorist organization in 2025. He also pointed to "cartel violence inside American borders," and added: "That's real too."

He said the case for ICE going after those groups is "pretty strong." Earlier in the episode Rogan faulted Trump over the Iran war. Here he said "it was the Iran decision" that hurt the president, not immigration.

What Polls Show on Masked Immigration Agents

On masks, the public is with Rogan. A Pew Research Center survey conducted January 20-26 found 61 percent of adults say it is unacceptable for immigration officers to wear face coverings that hide their identities.

An NBC News Decision Desk poll taken from January 27 to February 6 found 63 percent disapprove of immigration agents wearing masks. An Economist/YouGov poll fielded February 27 to March 2 found 59 percent say ICE agents should not be allowed to wear masks, against 31 percent who say they should. In that poll, 75 percent said officers should be required to wear uniforms identifying them as ICE, including 57 percent of Republicans.

The split falls along party lines. In the YouGov poll, 65 percent of Republicans backed letting agents hide their faces. Trump's overall standing is weak going into Tuesday: his approval sits at 37.7 percent in PolitiKool's polling average.

The Record on U.S. Citizens Detained

The government does not track how many citizens immigration agents hold. ProPublica built its own count and has documented more than 500 U.S. citizens held against their will during Trump's second term. They include at least 70 children and teens, and more than 100 people who were held after agents questioned their citizenship.

The Department of Homeland Security disputes how that count is framed. "DHS is NOT arresting U.S. citizens by mistake," the agency said, adding that its "enforcement operations are highly targeted."

Mask and ID Rules for Federal Agents

Federal regulations already require immigration officers making an arrest to identify themselves "as soon as it is practical and safe to do so." There is no federal ban on face coverings.

California tried to impose one. In February, U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder blocked the state's No Secret Police Act. She ruled that the mask ban discriminated against federal agents because it exempted state police. She let stand a separate law, the No Vigilantes Act, which requires officers to display their agency and a name or badge number. Snyder wrote that the mask law could be rewritten without the exemption for state officers.

That leaves masks legal for now, and a question for whoever holds Congress after Tuesday.