WASHINGTON — A dispute over whether federal immigration agents should be allowed to wear masks during enforcement operations has become one of the biggest obstacles to keeping the Department of Homeland Security funded, pushing the government toward a partial shutdown early Saturday.
Democrats have described the practice as corrosive to public trust, arguing that masked agents create the appearance of a “secret police” force. Republican lawmakers, President Trump and his top advisors, meanwhile, have drawn a hard line against requiring officers to remove their face coverings, insisting that doing so would expose them to harassment, threats and online doxxing.
“They want our law enforcement to be totally vulnerable and put them in a lot of danger,” Trump said at a White House event Thursday. He added that it would be “very, very hard to approve” Democrats’ demands, such as unmasking federal officers.
The standoff over masking stalled negotiations as lawmakers raced to meet a funding deadline for the Department of Homeland Security at midnight Friday. Without a deal, key agency functions — from airport security to disaster relief coordination — could be affected if the shutdown drags on.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) rides the Senate subway Thursday ahead of the latest partial government shutdown.
(Graeme Sloan / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
As with every shutdown, the agency’s essential functions will continue to operate, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant Homeland Security secretary for public affairs, said in a statement. But employees performing those functions at agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration could go without pay if the shutdown stretches for weeks.
The heads of those agencies told the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday that the shutdown is expected to create severe and lasting challenges.
Vice Adm. Thomas Allan, the acting vice commandant of the Coast Guard, said a shutdown would delay maintenance for boats and aircraft, and halt pay for 56,000 active-duty reserve and civilian personnel. Ha Nguyen McNeill, acting administrator of TSA, recounted how the last government shutdown affected her workers and spiked wait times at airports.
“We heard reports of officers sleeping in their cars at airports to save money on gas, selling their blood and plasma and taking on second jobs to make ends meet,” she said, adding that some are still recovering from the financial impact.
Operations within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — the agencies that are central to the budget impasse — are likely to be the least affected. That’s because both agencies still have access to $75 billion in funding approved last year as part of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
By midday Friday, it remained unclear when the partial shutdown would end, as lawmakers left Washington for a security conference in Munich and progress between Democratic and White House negotiators remained nebulous.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters on Friday when asked about cutting a deal. “We always have to protect our law enforcement.”
The partial government shutdown comes at a moment of acute public anger at the agency’s approach to immigration enforcement, which has included the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis.
But Democrats maintain that they need reforms written into law. Among their demands is requiring officers to wear and turn on body cameras, banning them from wearing masks, and ending the practice of “roving patrols” and instead requiring that they carry out only targeted operations.
“We will not support an extension of the status quo, a status quo that permits masked secret police to barge into people’s homes without warrants, no guardrails and zero oversight from independent authorities,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday.
Todd M. Lyons, the acting director of ICE, told a Senate panel Thursday that he does not want to see federal agents masked either, but said he is hesitant to bar face coverings because the threats to agents are too severe.
“I would work with this committee and any committee to work with holding individuals accountable that doxx ICE agents, because ICE agents don’t want to be masked,” Lyons said. “They’re honorable men and women, but the threats against their family are real.”
Federal immigration officials are more supportive of body cameras.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott told a House committee on Tuesday that he supports expanding the use of body cameras, but said more funding is needed to hire personnel to oversee the rollout.
“Fund the entire program so that we can be transparent and that we can make sure America knows what we’re doing, because that trust is critically important,” he said.
Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Assn., said that while the White House has made some “tweaks around oversight,” its actions continue to fall short.
The association, which represents 18,000 immigration attorneys, has urged Congress to refuse more funding for ICE and CBP before implementing reforms.
“The American public wants and deserves real, meaningful guardrails that are written into law that ensure this administration — and, quite frankly, any administration — will abide by the Constitution and respect fundamental principles of due process,” Johnson said Wednesday on a call with reporters.
“Congress has a critical opportunity right now to meet that demand,” he added.
Republican Sens. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky talk during a hearing Thursday on oversight of federal immigration agencies.
(Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)
So far, Democrats maintain they will continue to bock funding bills without accountability measures in place.
California’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, were among the Senate Democrats who helped block passage of funding bills Thursday that would have averted a shutdown because they lacked accountability measures.
“I will not support more funding for ICE until there are new guardrails to rein in its lawless conduct,” Schiff wrote on X. “I’m a no on anything but real reform.”
Padilla said he would be a “firm no” until lawmakers agree that federal immigration officers need to be held accountable.
“Donald Trump and Republicans want Americans to forget about their lawless immigration roundup, but we won’t,” Padilla said.
Moth has made it to the final of The Masked Singer but the mystery star, whose identity is not yet know, couldn’t hold back the tears after performing a Disney song
Moth gave an emotional rendition of a Disney classic
Moth burst into tears following their performance on The Masked Singer. The mystery celebrity, who has made it to the final of the hit ITV competition series, gave a rendition of Colours of the Wind from Pocahontas, originally sung by Judy Kuhn in the 19995 animation.
Following the performance, judges Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan, Maya Jama and and Jonathan Ross were clearly moved and Davina noted just how “emotional” it was.
She added: “That was really breathtaking. Stunning. Thank you!” It was then that Moth could be heard quietly crying underneath the costume. Mo heard it and said: “I don’t know if Moth is crying under there?” to which the star nodded. Mo exlaimed: “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Now I’m going to cry!”
Davina added: “That really was something else, thank you” and Moth received a huge round of applause from the audience. This all happened just moments before JLS star Marvin Humes was unmasked, having been performing as Can of Worms for weeks.
Speaking after his exit from the show, Marvin, who is married to fellow pop star and presenter Rochelle Humes, said: “That was the whole thing. When I talked about doing the show, I wanted to be completely across the board. My first song was Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast.
“It’s a big tune to be fair. And then Ghostbusters and then Temperature. Then Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Pure Imagination, which is one of my favourite songs.
“I drive my kids mad singing that at home when we’re watching the movie. And then tonight, Cha Cha Slide. Who doesn’t love Cha Cha Slide ?”
Marvin, who has also had a host of presenting gigs on programmes like This Morning and The Hit List, shot to fame as part of JLS on The X Factor in 2008, and they launched a greatest hits tour last year, but admitted that it was “strange” to have performed solo for the first time in a while.
He said: “Do you know what, what’s really strange for me is I haven’t sung by myself in a long time. I’m used to being with three other guys on stage and that’s quite a comfort. A bit of security. Although I’m completely masked, it’s still been quite strange being out on my own singing.
His exit came as part of double elimination, along with TV presenter Ben Fogle, who had been singing as Sloth. Despite not being a singer, Ben later explained that he just embraced the opportunity and loved getting the chance to cover a theatre classic.
He said: “I really enjoyed it. I’ve never done any singing, but I really loved doing it. Actually, there was one song, which was actually my sing-off song, Flash Bang Wallop from Half a Sixpence, for me, that was the song I really wanted to do because my mother was in the original musical.
“I remember watching it as a child, multiple times, and that song was just so joyous. So to get to sing that on a stage, in front of an audience with no one knowing who I was, was super super fun.
The Masked Singer finale airs Saturday at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX.Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs onTikTok,Snapchat,Instagram,Twitter,Facebook,YouTubeandThreads.
Sloth is yet to be unmasked on The Masked Singer but one costume designer has revealed how the mystery star ‘almost scared’ the production team backstage on the hit show
23:05, 31 Jan 2026Updated 23:05, 31 Jan 2026
Sloth has made it through to the semi-final of The Masked Singer(Image: ITV)
The Masked Singer’s Sloth has been entertaining audiences for weeks on the hit ITVcompetition series after belting out a string of pop songs but no one is aware of just who is in the costume yet. The secret star is through to the semi-final, but it has emerged now that the performer was so “athletic” backstage, there were concerns raised in the costume department.
Costume designer Tim Simpson, creative director at Plunge Creations, insisted that the line up are always enthusiastic but explained that if they are too energetic, it can be hard on the elaborate outfits that are crafted for the series.
He said: “These performers are really up for it, and they really enjoy it. They’ve seen it enough times to realise that, and probably the word has gone out in the grapevine that if you’re going to get involved in The Masked Singer, then you’re gonna have to really strap in and get fit.‘
“So the word’s gone out, and by the time they arrive on set, or by the time we get to the costumes to them, I think they’re already quite into it.
Speaking to Metro, Tim added: “Sloth, who apparently not just enjoyed the costume, but got to the point where it nearly scared the production team, because they were so physical and so athletic and so keen to be doing yoga and aerobics that we worried for the safety of the costume. The more the performers jump around, the better they look, but the harder it is on the costume.”
Judges Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan, Jonathan Ross and Maya Jama have already thrown a lot of names about as to who could be Sloth, with stars like fitness guru Joe Wicks, TV chef Jamie Oliver, Good Morning Britain’s Ed Balls, Chris Moyles, and Ben Fogle having been thrown into the mix.
So far, stars like Sex Pistols rocker John Lydon, rapper Professor Green and, singer Kate Nash and Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke have been unmasked. On Saturday night’s edition of the show, former TV Burp star Harry Hill was revealed to have been performing as Red Panda.
Asked if he enjoyed it, he admitted: “No. Yes of course I enjoyed it! The weird thing is, you put the thing on and you’ve got no inhibitions. The only downside is you’re breathing your own breath because it’s all trapped, and I had falafel for lunch!”
Harry, who has been married to artist Magda Archer since 1996, then revealed after his elimination that it was his wife who inspired him to sign up for the show in the first place.
He said: “I always say to my wife what shall I do? And she said darling you should do it. That’s a holiday! I have just finished a big tour and I was planning to have some time off.
“You have to spend a bit of time learning the words but because you’re in the outfit, you don’t have to spend time thinking about a fancy dance routine or what faces you’re going to pull because it’s all inside [the costume].”
The Masked Singer continues Saturday at 7pm on ITV1 and ITV
