An immigration raid at a automotive wash in California in August.
Gregory Bull/AP
disguise caption
toggle caption
Gregory Bull/AP
SACRAMENTO, Calif — California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a legislation banning legislation enforcement from sporting masks on obligation apart from issues like riot gear, medical masks and undercover work.
Saying it is the primary invoice of its sort within the nation, Newsom — a Democrat and frequent critic of President Trump — stated it was an indication of rising authoritarianism to have detentions in by masked males “hidden from accountability, any transparency, any oversight. That is Trump’s America.”
He stated federal brokers had operated for years within the state unmasked and referred to as masking “a brand new assemble conceived to terrorize our various communities.”
The legislation, referred to as by sponsors the “No Secret Police Act,” is available in response to elevated immigration enforcement in California, notably in Los Angeles. Newsom went to L.A. for the invoice signing.
President Trump’s mass deportation program has led to scenes of masked federal brokers detaining individuals off the streets, typically with out badges or indicating what company they’re from. Town has been the scene of protests towards Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.
The impression of the legislation could possibly be determined in courtroom
The legislation takes impact subsequent yr. It is unclear precisely what powers state lawmakers have to manage the conduct of federal legislation enforcement. College of California, Davis legislation professor Raquel Aldana says California is making an attempt to make use of this legislation to determine what federal brokers can and can’t do inside a state.
She stated there needs to be a line someplace for states outlawing — as hypothetical extremes — issues like homicide or torture by federal brokers. “In some unspecified time in the future, the reply needs to be ‘no’ and I feel that is what the state of California is making an attempt to do. Set up limits as to how a lot the federal authorities can do inside the jurisdiction of the state. It is a problem of state sovereignty.”
Lawmakers in a couple of different states, together with New York and Massachusetts, are contemplating comparable strikes.
ICE declined to remark when contacted by NPR. Basically, ICE officers have stated their brokers put on masks to forestall from being recognized in movies or images posted on-line, generally leading to threats to them or their households.
Newsom additionally signed a number of different payments together with one that might require legislation enforcement to obviously show their title or badge quantity whereas on obligation; one other requiring faculties to inform mother and father and workers when immigration enforcement is on web site; and two others prohibiting faculties and well being care services from permitting ICE brokers on their grounds with out legitimate warrants.
Aldana famous that the authorized impression of the masks legislation on federal legislation enforcement could possibly be weakened as a result of it doesn’t apply to California state-level legislation enforcement.
However it does apply to police and sheriffs places of work and different native businesses, who routinely function unmasked. By July 2026, their businesses should challenge masks insurance policies following the legislation.
California legislation enforcement teams have opposed it
A number of California organizations representing native legislation enforcement businesses, together with the California State Sheriff’s Affiliation, opposed the invoice, calling it reckless and harmful to officers and their households.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican working within the 2026 race for governor, stated the ban confirmed Newsom and Democratic lawmakers care extra in regards to the security of criminals than officers.
“They did not ban criminals from sporting masks, they did not inform criminals that they needed to determine themselves,” Bianco stated whereas campaigning in Northern California on Friday. “Each single individual that voted for that must be eradicated within the subsequent election. Anybody that votes for these persons are absolute idiots.”
The California Peace Officers Analysis Affiliation — the most important legislation enforcement group within the state representing over 80,000 public security members — and Police Chiefs Affiliation have been additionally towards the invoice.
Giselle Garcia with NorCal Resist, a Sacramento-based mutual help group that gives authorized help to immigrants liable to deportation, stated the ban can be useful even when it is not enforceable.
“There’s all the time a pressure between state rights versus the federal authorities’s rights and scope of energy,” Garcia stated. “Nonetheless, what we do know is that when issues are codified underneath legislation, there’s extra of a possibility to not simply cite to legislation, however hopefully there’s some sort of foundation for litigation to actually problem when there is a federal authorities abuse taking place.”
Garcia stated the group’s courtroom observers have been verbally harassed and bodily assaulted by ICE brokers sporting masks who refuse to determine themselves when requested.
Gerardo Zavala covers state authorities and politics for Capradio.
