On November 17, 2025, the Trump administration sued the state of California alleging its law banning federal immigration officers from wearing face masks is unconstitutional. The lawsuit says California does not have the authority to regulate ICE officers. The Trump administration accuses the state of “discriminating” against the federal government by imposing limitations on masks and says the law will make immigration agents and others vulnerable to potential harassment and violence. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the No Secret Police Act and No Vigilantes Act into law in September 2025. The pair of measures is set to take effect on January 1, 2026, and will ban federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks while carrying out operations in the state and require non-uniformed officers to visibly display identification while performing their duties, respectively. When signing the laws, Governor Newsom said federal agents had operated for years in the state unmasked and called masking “a new construct conceived to terrorize our diverse communities.” Attorney Rob Bonta pointed out that if law enforcement officials are not identified and obscure their faces by wearing masks, people will not be able to distinguish them from criminals. 

Photo: Masked federal agents wait outside an immigration courtroom on July 8, 2025, in New York. (Olga Fedorova/The Associated Press)