New Delhi, July 18 -- In a matter of months, it has become a regular sight around the country - immigration enforcement agents detaining people and taking them into custody, often as public anger and outcry unfold around them. But in the process, something has disappeared: the agents' faces, covered by caps, sunglasses, pulled-up neck gaiters or balaclavas, effectively rendering them unidentifiable.

With the year only half over, the covered face - as deployed by law enforcement in a wave of immigration crackdowns directed by President Donald Trump's White House - has become one of the most potent and contentious visuals of 2025.

The increase in high-profile immigration enforcement was already contentious between those opposed to the act...