Trump administration challenges California regulation banning ICE agent masks

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The Trump administration filed a lawsuit on Monday difficult California's regulation banning federal immigration brokers from sporting face masks to cover their identities, arguing that the measure is unconstitutional.

The lawsuit claims that the state doesn't have the authority to limit federal brokers.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the No Secret Police Act and the No Vigilantes Act into regulation in September. Underneath the payments, most regulation enforcement, together with federal brokers, could be barred from sporting masks on the job and non-uniformed officers could be required to visibly show identification throughout their duties.

Exceptions to the masks ban could be permitted for undercover brokers, for these utilizing medical masks like N95 respirators or as a part of tactical gear.

NEWSOM BANS LAW ENFORCEMENT FROM WEARING MASKS, TAUNTS ICE AGENTS: 'WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?'

<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/672/378/california-bill-bans-police-face-masks-fox-news-001.png?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1344/756/california-bill-bans-police-face-masks-fox-news-001.png?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/931/523/california-bill-bans-police-face-masks-fox-news-001.png?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1862/1046/california-bill-bans-police-face-masks-fox-news-001.png?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> The Trump administration filed a lawsuit difficult California's regulation banning federal immigration officers from sporting face masks. (Getty Photographs)

Newsom stated that federal immigration officers would now not be "hidden from accountability" whereas performing operations in California.

"That’s not the America we’ve grown up in. And so we're pushing again," he stated forward of the invoice signings.

Federal brokers have performed immigration raids in Southern California since June, focusing on migrant employees at native companies that sparked protests and the next federal deployment of the Nationwide Guard and Marines. Throughout the raids, some federal brokers wore masks and hid their identities.

The administration urged the court docket to deem the legal guidelines a violation of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Structure and concern a preliminary injunction blocking California from implementing the legal guidelines.

The Supremacy Clause establishes that federal regulation is the "supreme Legislation of the Land," overriding state regulation.

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE PASSES BILL PROHIBITING LAW ENFORCEMENT FROM WEARING FACE MASKS TO SHIELD IDENTITIES

The lawsuit claims that the state doesn't have the authority to limit federal brokers. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs)

The lawsuit additionally argues that the California legal guidelines violate Article 5, Part 301 of the U.S. Code, which says company heads "could prescribe rules for the federal government of his division [and] the conduct of its workers."

Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi stated on Monday that the California legal guidelines "discriminate in opposition to the federal authorities and are designed to create danger for our brokers."

After Newsom signed the measures, administration officers directed ICE brokers to disregard the California legal guidelines.

The Division of Homeland Safety stated on Sept. 22 that it's going to "NOT adjust to Gavin Newsom’s unconstitutional masks ban," pointing to a rise in threats in the direction of ICE officers.

The lawsuit additionally argues that the California legal guidelines "would recklessly endanger the lives of federal brokers and their members of the family and compromise the operational effectiveness of federal regulation enforcement actions."

Gov. Gavin Newsom has stated that federal immigration officers would now not be "hidden from accountability." (Pool)

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However supporters of masks for immigration agents say that using face coverings generates worry among the many public and have to be stopped.

Newsom workplace stated that California officers "will see the [DOJ] in court docket."

"If the Trump administration cared half as a lot about public security because it does about pardoning cop-beaters, violating folks’s rights, and detaining U.S. residents and their children, our communities could be a lot safer," spokesperson Diana Crofts-Pelayo stated in an announcement to The Hill, referring to President Donald Trump pardoning greater than 1,000 individuals who participated within the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.