California lawmakers pass bill barring authorities from wearing face
masks
[September 13, 2025]
By TRÂN NGUYỄN
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California state lawmakers have passed
legislation that would ban most law enforcement officers from covering
their faces while carrying out operations, a response to recent
immigration raids in Los Angeles.
But even if the governor signs the measure into law, it’s unclear
whether the state could enforce it on the federal agents who have been
carrying out those raids.
It is the first such bill to be approved by a state legislature, though
Democrats in Congress and lawmakers in several states, including
Tennessee, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, and
Pennsylvania, have introduced similar proposals calling for mask bans
for law enforcement officers.
California's legislation, approved in the Democratic-controlled
Legislature on Thursday, is among a number of bills state lawmakers were
considering this year in response to the immigration raids.
The bill would prohibit neck gator, ski masks and other facial covering
for local and federal officers, including immigration enforcement
agents, while they conduct official business. It makes exceptions for
undercover agents, medical masks such as N95 respirators or tactical
gear.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has about a month to decide whether to sign it into
law. The Democratic governor has criticized federal agents' use of masks
while making arrests but in July also questioned the state's authority
over federal agents. His office said Friday it does not typically
comment on pending legislation.
Proponents of the bill said the proposal is necessary, especially after
the Supreme Court earlier this week ruled that the federal
administration can resume the sweeping immigration operations for now in
Los Angeles.
Assemblymember Juan Carrillo, vice chair of the Latino caucus, said the
decision is “effectively allowing federal agents stop suspects based
solely on their race, language, or job."
“How is anyone supposed to reasonably believe that they are law
enforcement officers and not masked individuals trying to kidnap you?"
he said prior to the vote. “Imagine the absolute fear of being pulled
over at gunpoint by a group of masked individuals.”
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Law enforcement officers stand guard during a protest June 14,
2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File)
Supporters also cited an opinion from constitutional law expert
Erwin Chemerinsky at the University of California, Berkeley to
defend the proposal. A state cannot directly regulate the federal
government, he wrote in an opinion piece for the Sacramento Bee, but
that does not mean federal employees do not have to follow state
rules “unless doing so would significantly interfere with the
performance of their duties. For example, while on the job, federal
employees must stop at red lights.”
“ICE agents have never before worn masks when apprehending people,
and that never has posed a problem. Nor have other officers of
local, state and federal law enforcement faced dangers from the
public because they don’t wear masks in the streets,” he wrote.
Republican lawmakers and law enforcement agencies said the
legislation would only make the job more dangerous for officers.
“Bad guys wear masks because they don't want to get caught. Good
guys wear masks because they don't want to get killed,” said state
Republican Sen. Kelly Seyarto on Thursday.
The increase in high-profile immigration enforcement was already
contentious between those opposed to the actions of Trump’s
administration and those in support of them. The sight of masked
agents carrying it out is creating a whole new level of conflict, in
a way that has no real comparison in the U.S. history of policing.
Trump administration officials have consistently defended the
practice, saying that immigration agents have faced strident and
increasing harassment in public and online as they have gone about
their enforcement in service of Trump’s drive toward mass
deportation, and hiding their identities is for their and their
families’ safety.
Democrats and others, including several state attorneys general,
have pushed back, saying the use of face masks generates public fear
and should be halted.
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