The Department of Homeland Security on Monday said it would not comply with California's new law that bans law enforcement officers from covering their faces while conducting operations.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California signed the bill into law on Saturday, saying that the images of masked federal immigration officers violently arresting people off the streets—many of them citizens or legal residents—is "like a dystopian sci-fi movie."
“This is a disgrace. This is an outrage, what we’ve allowed to happen in this country," Newsom said.
California’s law is set to take effect in January. But DHS, which oversees the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents who have been conducting immigration raids, said it won't follow the law.
"To be clear: We will NOT comply with Gavin Newsom’s unconstitutional mask ban," DHS wrote in a post on X. "At a time that ICE law enforcement faces a 1,000% increase in assaults and their family members are being doxxed and targeted, the sitting Governor of California signed unconstitutional legislation that strips law enforcement of protections in a disgusting, diabolical fundraising and PR stunt.”
Immigration advocates protest recent detentions by ICE outside the immigration court in San Antonio, Texas, on July 1.
Americans largely oppose the idea of immigration agents wearing masks. Forty-nine percent of American adults think agents shouldn’t be allowed to conceal their faces while making arrests, according to a YouGov poll conducted for The Economist earlier this month. Meanwhile, 37% say agents should be able to wear masks, and 15% are unsure.
California, for its part, is the first state to pass a mask ban for law enforcement officers.
But lawmakers in other states, including Massachusetts and New York, have introduced similar legislation to bar law enforcement from concealing their identities with masks while conducting operations.
Multiple bills have also been introduced in Congress. Virginia Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner introduced a bill to ban federal immigration agents from wearing masks in all states. And in July, Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Alex Padilla of California introduced the Visible Identification Standards for Immigration-Based Law Enforcement Act of 2025.
“When federal immigration agents show up and pull someone off the street in plainclothes with their face obscured and no visible identification, it only escalates tensions and spreads fear while shielding federal agents from basic accountability,” Padilla said in a news release of his bill. “Immigration agents should be required to display their agency and name or badge number—just like police and other local law enforcement agencies. The VISIBLE Act’s commonsense requirements will restore transparency and ensure impersonators can’t exploit the panic and confusion caused by unidentifiable federal immigration enforcement agents.”
Critics of masked agents say it raises the likelihood of misconduct since agents may feel they can act with impunity if no one knows who they are. It also could lead to law enforcement imposters kidnapping people.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a rally on Aug. 14 in Los Angeles.
"When police wear masks, democracy loses its face," New York Democratic Assemblymember Tony Simone, who introduced a mask ban in the Empire State, told CBS New York. "I introduced the MELT Act to stop unmasked agents from terrorizing our communities. No badges, no names, no rules—this must stop."
Scott Shuchart, a former ICE and DHS official, told Padilla and Booker that banning law enforcement from concealing their identities is good policy.
“Masked, plainclothes officers create an unreasonable risk of escalating violence and unnerve everyone who sees them,” Shuchart said. “As much as the cop in blues is a staple of American life, the masked bandit is a symbol of fear, and having government agents dressed like paramilitaries is un-American. Based on my experience in government, the VISIBLE Act makes good sense and would be straightforward for DHS officials to implement.”
The Trump administration, however, has shown it doesn't care about following the law.
Earlier this year, the administration ignored a federal judge that ordered DHS to halt deportation flights to El Salvador. And Republicans have gone as far as calling for judges who rule against Trump's actions to be removed from their positions.
It’s unclear, however, how the Trump administration will ignore California’s law. So far, they have not filed a lawsuit challenging it on constitutional grounds.
It’s also unclear whether police in California will enforce the law and arrest federal agents who wear masks while conducting immigration raids.
