Trump administration sues California over ban on masked immigration agents

Sharon Bernstein, The Sacramento Bee on Nov 17, 2025

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The Trump administration said on Monday it would not comply with California’s new laws banning federal agents from wearing masks and other face coverings when conducting operations in the state, and sued in federal court to overturn its “No secret police” and “No vigilantes” acts.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles accuses the state of “discriminating” against the federal government by imposing limitations on masks, and says the laws, which are set to go into effect Jan. 1, will make immigration agents and others vulnerable to potential harassment and violence.

In addition to naming the state as a defendant, the lawsuit targets Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“If enforced against the federal government, the laws would recklessly endanger the lives of federal agents and their family members and compromise the operational effectiveness of federal law enforcement activities,” the lawsuit says. “Accordingly, the Federal Government does not intend to comply with the challenged laws.”

The two laws were signed by Newsom on Sept. 20, and grew out of the concern about the now-standard use of face coverings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol officers when conducting sweeps of civilian locations where they believe undocumented immigrants will be gathered for work or other activities.

Throughout the country, masked agents in military fatigues have arrested people at day laborer gathering sites such as Home Depot stores, conducted dragnets at apartment buildings and detained asylum seekers leaving hearings at immigration court.

In Sacramento, masked agents arrested a dozen people, including an American citizen and a teen who was heading to a different store, in a July sweep at a Home Depot on Florin Road. At least 39 people were detained over the summer after coming to mandatory hearings at Sacramento’s downtown immigration court, documents in a separate federal case show.

Bonta vowed to defend the law in court. If law enforcement officials are not identified and even obscure their faces by wearing masks, people will not be able to distinguish them from criminals, he said in a statement to The Bee.

“It’s problematic when Californians can’t tell the difference between a law enforcement officer who is charged with protecting them and a criminal who is attempting to cause them harm,” Bonta said.

“The FBI itself has warned that the practice of ICE agents wearing masks to obscure their identity has led to a rise in copycats committing crimes, threatening public safety and eroding trust in law enforcement,” Bonta said.

In signing the two bills, Newsom likened the sweeps to a dystopian movie, with “unmarked cars, people in masks, people quite literally disappearing,” according to previous Bee reporting.

But Justice Department attorneys led by Assistant U.S. Attorney General Brett Shumate said the two measures put federal officers in danger.

It lists incidents of doxing against officers whose names became known to the public, and details a Halloween display in Houston that included a “mock execution ground” showing ICE officers being hanged.

In California, a man was arrested in September “for posting an ICE attorney’s personal information online and urging others to harass her,” the complaint says. Three women livestreamed themselves following an ICE agent to his home before posting his address on social media, the complaint says.

“Sadly, the violent rhetoric, doxxing, harassment, and threats have also led to direct violence against federal officers,” the complaint says, citing the sniper attack in September on an ICE facility in Dallas that killed two detainees. Shots were also fired at Border Patrol agents conducting enforcement operations in Chicago, the complaint said.

The laws also violate a prohibition against states attempting to regulate the federal government, because they essentially dictate uniforms for its officers, the complaint read.

The two laws were part of a package of bills signed by Newsom aimed at protecting the due process rights of people who are targets of the administration’s immigration enforcement actions. With certain exceptions, the laws ban officers from wearing full-face coverings and require most out-of-state law enforcement to wear uniforms and identification. Personal protective gear is exempted, as are approved undercover officers and members of SWAT teams.

Other bills signed in September included measures to limit cooperation of hospitals, schools and daycare facilities with federal immigration enforcement operations.

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