A new California law that bans federal immigration officers from wearing face masks in the state is unconstitutional and unenforceable, according to former law enforcement officials.
Over the weekend, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed five bills into law that aim at restraining the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement from arresting illegal immigrants across the West Coast state, a move that he said was meant to deter federal authorities from carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation operation.
Other laws included policies barring ICE from accessing schools and hospitals without a judicial warrant and requiring schools, colleges, and universities to alert parents when ICE is on campus.
One such law, SB 627, made it illegal for local police and sheriff’s department employees, federal police, and state police from states other than California to wear face masks while working. California state police were exempt from the face mask ban.
The trouble for Newsom, according to several former police officials who spoke with the Washington Examiner on Tuesday, is that although the state could enforce this mask ban against its own local police and sheriff’s deputies, it cannot dictate how federal police present themselves.
Jonathan Fahey, former acting ICE director, said going after federal police would violate the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause because federal law is supreme.
“When a federal officer is acting within their official capacity and doing what they believe is … within the scope of their employment, they cannot be prosecuted, even if it in fact violated a state law,” said Fahey, now partner with the Holtzman Vogel law firm in Washington. “Everyone knows that [California] can’t do this.”
Bill Johnson, executive director of a national police organization representing more than a quarter of a million officers, agreed with Fahey.
“It seems pretty clear from a constitutional perspective that any efforts by California to thwart federal law enforcement actions will fail under the federal constitution’s Supremacy Clause,” said Johnson, who leads the National Association of Police Organizations. “No doubt the governor and his advisers are aware of this, but once again have chosen the cheap theatrics of another ill-advised state policy that will be quickly struck down.”
Brian R. Marvel, president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, said the governor’s plan would turn local police into a “punching bag to grandstand against the federal government” and said the organization’s 83,000 officers opposed it.
Johnson added that the law “seems just like more of the same old song and dance” from California politicians.
“Instead of focusing on all the problems within California and failure after failure of their policies, the governor once again seeks to deflect attention by stoking anger against law-enforcement officers and agents,” Johnson said. “These proposals ignore the very real threats and attacks against law-enforcement officers and their families at all levels.”
Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith, who spent nearly three decades at a large police department in the Chicago suburbs, said the California law was likely “ceremonial” and explained that face masks serve a purpose.
“We wear face coverings in certain situations to prevent us — the law enforcement officer — from being identified,” Smith said. “It could be, again, from the doxing. It can also be because those officers are working in some sort of undercover capacity, some sort of tactical capacity. For example, SWAT teams and tactical teams very often wear face coverings, again, to prevent them from being identified, not to be hiding from the public.”
ICE did not respond to a request for comment, but Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin stated, “We don’t need to abide by this garbage.”
California police could run into their own legal trouble if they attempt to arrest ICE personnel when the ban takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
“If a state officer tried to arrest like an ICE agent for wearing a mask while they’re out doing their job, the state officer would actually be arguably guilty of obstructing justice, and an ICE agent would be able to arrest the state officer who’s trying to arrest them,” Fahey said.
A Department of Justice spokesperson would not comment on how the federal government would handle potential state enforcement of the mask ban, but did note in a statement sent Tuesday evening that “protecting the safety and security of our federal law enforcement officers, ridding our country of dangerous illegal aliens, will continue to be a top priority for this Administration.”
Newsom has led the Democratic effort to fight back against the Trump administration, accusing President Donald Trump of “authoritarian tendencies” and abusing his authority on numerous occasions. Fahey quipped that Newsom could be the one determined to be abusing power if he required California police to enforce the ICE mask ban.
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“What could be more an abuse of power to sign a law that is clearly unconstitutional, which would give the states power that they don’t have under the Constitution to enforce laws,” Fahey said. “So if they actually try to enact this, it’s a complete abuse of power.”
Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
