US California bans masks for immigration agents during operations

LOS ANGELES -- California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Saturday that he had signed a package of laws aimed at protecting immigrants in the US state, with the No Secret Police Act being a first-in-the-nation measure that prohibits officers from wearing masks.

Speaking at a high school in Los Angeles, Newsom said he signed five bills into law. The No Secret Police Act broadly bars federal and local law enforcement officers from wearing face masks while performing their duties.

Newsom also signed a bill requiring state and federal law enforcement officers to identify themselves by displaying their badge numbers or names while on duty, unless working undercover.

The other three bills signed Saturday restrict Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) access to schools and daycare facilities, ban hospitals and health care providers from sharing sensitive information or allowing agents to enter emergency rooms without a warrant, and require family notification when agents appear on school campuses.

"It's like a dystopian sci-fi movie," Newsom said at the event. "Unmarked cars, people in masks, people quite literally disappearing."

"No due process, no rights. Immigrants have rights and we have the right to stand up and push back," he added.

This law package was signed during US President Donald Trump's wide-ranging deportation program. The governor later posted on X that the new laws were "a direct response" to Trump's "lawless immigration raids and arrests in California."

California Democrats began drafting the immigration-related bills soon after Trump took office this January. Their efforts intensified after aggressive immigration crackdowns in Southern California sparked weeks of protests in Los Angeles and led to a National Guard deployment.

"All of this legislative resistance is to protect Angelenos from their own federal government. That is profound," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said at Saturday's event, where she joined Newsom and other local Democratic leaders.

ICE has faced criticism from residents and communities in California for allowing agents to wear face-covering masks and plain clothes, citing threats to officers and their families.

In a statement Saturday, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin denounced the new laws signed by Newsom as "despicable" and "a flagrant attempt to endanger our officers."

Legal experts said the measures may offer limited protection to immigrants and will likely face constitutional challenges from the federal government.

Kevin Johnson, an immigration law professor and former dean of the UC Davis School of Law, stated that the legislation may have a marginal impact on federal enforcement operations.

He noted that a 2018 California law restricting immigration arrests at superior court buildings did not stop the Trump administration from detaining people at courts this year.

"The federal government is going to continue doing what it's doing, in one form or another," Johnson said. "I do think the legislation gives some hope and optimism to communities that feel under fire, vulnerable and basically hated by the federal government."