A federal judge on Monday said that California could not prohibit federal law enforcement agents from wearing face masks unless it amended the law to also apply to state agents. But the judge did allow the state to require federal agents to display identification.
Judge Christina A. Snyder of the Federal District Court in Los Angeles issued a preliminary injunction against the mask ban, ruling that California’s new law was unconstitutional because it did not impose the same requirements on all federal, state and local law enforcement officers.
However, the judge allowed the state to enforce a separate law that requires all law enforcement officers, including federal ones, to display visible identification.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation in September that made California the first state in the nation to prohibit law enforcement officers from covering their faces, starting on Jan. 1. Federal agents began wearing masks more regularly during immigration raids last year in large part to avoid being identified by activists.
The Trump administration argued that the law was unconstitutional because states could not regulate federal agencies. It also said California’s law was discriminatory because it applied to local and federal officers, but not to those employed by the state.
The federal government contended that its agents needed to be able to protect their identities from protesters who threatened to harass or harm them and their families.
“Denying federal agencies and officers that choice would chill federal law enforcement and deter applicants for law enforcement positions,” the U.S. Department of Justice wrote in its lawsuit.
It cited examples of harassment and violence against immigration authorities, including a man who was arrested on suspicion of posting an ICE lawyer’s personal information online; three women who were accused of following an ICE agent to his home and posting his address on Instagram; and a sniper who fired shots at an ICE facility in Dallas, killing two immigrant detainees.
In the same lawsuit, the Trump administration also challenged a California law that required agents working in the state to wear visible identification, such as a name or badge number. Judge Snyder said that the identification law treats all officers similarly, and she rejected the Trump administration’s claim that it was unconstitutional.
Supporters of the laws argued that unidentifiable, masked agents defied the democratic principles of a free and open government that was accountable to the public. They said that California’s prohibition on masking was constitutional because state and local governments could require federal agencies to follow general laws, such as speed limits.
Federal agents have been enforcing immigration laws for many years without covering their faces, the state argued, so the new law did not impede them from performing their core functions.
California also argued that “the needless concealment” of officers’ identities made it difficult to hold those who break the law accountable.
Laurel Rosenhall is a Sacramento-based reporter covering California politics and government for The Times.
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