{"id":111309,"date":"2025-12-28T15:24:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T15:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/111309\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T15:24:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T15:24:08","slug":"california-law-banning-ice-agents-from-wearing-masks-under-fire-from-trump-administration-state-agencies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/111309\/","title":{"rendered":"California law banning ICE agents from wearing masks under fire from Trump administration, state agencies"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story<\/a> was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up<\/a> for their newsletters.<\/p>\n

A series of\u00a0immigration<\/a>\u00a0raids across California in 2025 had one thing in common: Most of the federal agents detaining people wore\u00a0masks over their faces<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In January, the state of California and its largest county will ban law enforcement officers from covering their faces<\/a>, with a few exceptions, putting local and state police at odds with masked immigration agents.<\/p>\n

The state law<\/a>\u00a0gives law enforcement officers a choice: If they cover their faces, they lose the ability to assert\u00a0\u201cqualified immunity,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0the doctrine that\u00a0protects officers from individual liability<\/a>\u00a0for their actions. That means they can be sued for assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest or malicious prosecution, and the law adds a clause that says the minimum penalty for committing those offenses while wearing a mask is $10,000.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez, a Los Angeles Democrat who co-authored the law, said it was necessary to rein in\u00a0anonymous federal agents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe initially were under the understanding that, oh, they\u2019re only targeting folks who were not citizens,\u201d Gonzalez said, \u201cAnd then actually over time, you learn they don\u2019t give a s\u2014 who you are, they\u2019re attacking you no matter what, with no due process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has sued to block the bill, and more than a century of\u00a0federal court precedent<\/a>\u00a0is on its side.\u00a0An 1890 Supreme Court case<\/a>\u00a0provides that a state cannot prosecute a federal law enforcement officer acting in the course of their duties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Trump administration said\u00a0in its brief<\/a>\u00a0to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California that forcing agents to reveal their identities would put the agents at risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During Immigration and Customs Enforcement \u201cactions, individuals can be heard threatening to doxx and find out who officers and their family members are and where they live,\u201d the administration\u2019s lawyers said in the Nov. 17 brief. \u201cThere are even public websites that seek and publish personal information about ICE and other federal officers to harass and threaten them and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, said the issue may not be as cut-and-dried as one or two Supreme Court cases. He pointed to a\u00a02001 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision<\/a>\u00a0that allowed the case of a federal sniper who killed a woman during the 1992 Ruby Ridge, Idaho, standoff to go to trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt basically says that a federal officer can be criminally prosecuted for unreasonable actions,\u201d Chemerinsky said. \u201cFederal officers, by virtue of being federal officers, do not get immunity from all state civil and criminal laws.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brian Marvel, president of an organization that represents California police unions, said the law will make life harder for local cops and county sheriffs\u2019 deputies. The organizations that represent police chiefs, sheriffs, agents in the Attorney General\u2019s office and California Highway Patrol officers opposed the law too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that the state has put us in a tenuous position with this battle they\u2019re having with the Trump administration,\u201d said Marvel, of the Peace Officers Research Association of California. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to be in the middle of this fight. But unfortunately, (with) the desire for higher name recognition and elections in 2026, they decided to create things that are much more political and not geared toward legitimate public safety issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marvel said another drawback of the law is giving \u201ca false sense of hope to the immigrant community in California\u201d that the law will force federal agents to leave the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Los Angeles County supervisors have also\u00a0approved a local mask ban<\/a>\u00a0on law enforcement for unincorporated areas of the county, a measure that will go into effect in mid-January, unless a court decision comes sooner.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gonzalez noted that masks have played a significant role in recent California history. First, during the pandemic,\u00a0California temporarily made masks mandatory<\/a>\u00a0in public and at work. Then, a couple of years later, a rush of smash-and-grab robberies were harder to solve because\u00a0the suspects all wore masks<\/a>. Now, California finds itself in its third back-and-forth over face coverings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The law provides exemptions for N-95 or medical-grade masks to prevent infection transmission, and permits undercover operatives to wear a mask.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is specifically aimed to federal agents because we gotta combat these kidnappings somehow,\u201d Gonzalez said, \u201cand this was our way in.\u201d<\/p>\n

CalMatters<\/a> is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe, explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

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