A top attorney for the Trump administration pressed a federal judge on Wednesday to block a newly enacted California law that prohibits most police officers in the state from wearing masks, including US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Tiberius Davis, a representative of the US Department of Justice, said at a hearing in Los Angeles that the first ban on police uniforms would cause chaos across the country, and could put more ICE agents on the wrong side of the law than they are allowed to work.
“Why doesn’t California know that all immigration officials have to wear pink, so it’s obvious who they are?” Davis told US District Judge Christina A. Snyder. “The idea that all 50 states can regulate the conduct and uniforms of officers … turns the Constitution on its head.”
The judge seemed skeptical.
“Why can’t they do their jobs without a mask? They did that until 2025, right?” Snyder said. “How can those who do not cover their faces work in the world?”
The administration first sued to block the new laws in November, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Secret Police Act and its accompanying provision, the No Vigilantes Act, into law. Together, the laws prohibit law enforcement officers from wearing masks and force them to show identification “while conducting law enforcement activities in the Golden State.” Both cases will be errors.
Federal officials have vowed to flout the new rules, saying they are unconstitutional and put agents at risk. They also criticized California’s state peace officer law, saying the carve out is discriminatory. The California Highway Patrol is among those exempt, while city and state agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, must comply.
“This was clearly and intentionally targeted by the federal government,” Davis told the court on Wednesday. “Public officials will be prosecuted if they don’t comply with California law, but California officials don’t.”
The hearing comes at a time of intense public anger at the agency following the shooting death of American protester Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis – anger that continued to mask as a symbol of lawlessness and impunity.
“It’s clear why these laws are in the public interest,” California Department of Justice attorney Cameron Bell told the court Wednesday. “The state has had to bear the cost of the action of the federal government. These are real consequences.”
He cited declarations by American citizens who believed they were being held hostage by criminals when confronted by undercover police, including incidents where local police were called to respond.
“I later learned that my mother and sister witnessed the incident and reported to the Los Angeles Police Department that I had been kidnapped,” said Angeleno Andrea Velez in one such announcement. “Because of my mother’s call, the LAPD came to the raid.”
The administration said the anti-mask law would put ICE agents and other immigration officials at risk of doxing and reduce “enthusiastic law enforcement.”
“These laws will endanger the lives of government employees and their family members and jeopardize the effectiveness of federal laws,” the government said in court.
A US Border Patrol agent on duty on Aug. 14 outside the Japanese American National Museum, where Gov. Gavin Newsom held a press conference in Los Angeles.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Davis also told the court that ICE’s current tactics were necessary in part because of laws across California and much of the US that limit police cooperation with ICE and immigration laws in sensitive areas, such as schools and courthouses.
California denies that its provisions are “modest” and consistent with past practice, and that the government’s evidence that immigration enforcement will harm them is slim.
Bell challenged Department of Homeland Security statistics that show an 8,000% increase in death threats against ICE agents and a 1,000% increase in assaults, saying the government recently changed what qualifies as a “threat” and that the agency’s claims face “significant credibility problems” in federal court.
“Whistling to warn the public, that’s not something that increases threats,” said Bell.
On the identification rule, Snyder seemed to agree.
“One could argue that there is a lot of damage to the government if the anonymity of the agents is maintained,” he said.
The fate of the mask law may depend on the peace officer’s release.
“Would your discrimination argument end if the state changed the law to apply to all officers?” Snyder asked.
“I believe so,” Davis said.
The ban was expected to go into effect on Jan. 1, but has been put on hold while the case goes through the courts. If approved, California would become the first state in the nation to ban ICE agents and other federal law enforcement officers from concealing their identities while on duty.
A decision is expected to be made as soon as this week.
