- “To be clear: We will NOT comply with Gavin Newsom’s unconstitutional mask ban.” – DHS
By Vanguard Staff
The Department of Homeland Security announced it will not comply with California’s new law banning most law enforcement, including federal immigration agents, from covering their faces during operations. The agency called the law unconstitutional and a political stunt.
“To be clear: We will NOT comply with Gavin Newsom’s unconstitutional mask ban. At a time that ICE law enforcement faces a 1,000% increase in assaults and their family members are being doxxed and targeted, the sitting Governor of California signed unconstitutional legislation that strips law enforcement of protections in a disgusting, diabolical fundraising and PR stunt,” DHS said in a statement posted on X.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 627, known as the “No Secret Police Act,” on Saturday as part of a broader package aimed at limiting what he described as fear-based federal enforcement tactics. The law, scheduled to take effect in January, requires law enforcement officers — including federal immigration agents — to be identifiable by name or badge number, with narrow exceptions.
Newsom defended the measure, arguing that the supremacy clause does not shield federal officers from basic accountability standards. “The supremacy clause basically asserts that we cannot interfere in federal operations. Well, federal operations have been conducted for decades and decades without masks. It’s never been necessary,” he said.
The governor also pushed back on federal claims of increased threats. “Do judges then start getting masks? Do elected officials start masking themselves? Does anyone that’s on the receiving end of modern-day bullying, um, as it relates to online activity? That’s why we have laws. Enforce the laws,” Newsom said.
Bill Essayli, the acting U.S. Attorney for Central California, said he has directed federal agents to disregard the state law. “If Newsom wants to regulate our agents, he must go through Congress,” Essayli wrote on X. He has not filed a legal challenge, though on cable news he speculated that Newsom could seek an injunction. “You know what this is about,” he said. “This is to inflame the public.”
Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin reinforced the agency’s stance in a news release Monday. She said, “ICE law enforcement faces a 1,000% increase in assaults.” Newsom asked for proof of that claim and urged federal officials to prosecute those who dox officers rather than allow agents to conceal their identities.
The new law is part of a larger legislative package that also restricts immigration enforcement in schools and hospitals. The measures make California the first state to ban federal immigration agents from concealing their identities while also limiting operations in sensitive locations.
Assemblymember Mike Fong, chair of the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Legislative Caucus, said the package “sends a clear message to immigration enforcement agencies that students or families should not live in fear for going to school, going to work, seeking medical care or simply living their daily lives.”
Senator Lena Gonzalez, chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, called the bills “a major win for our communities, delivering stronger protections in the face of egregious immigration raids and escalating authoritarian attacks on our freedoms.”
First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom also defended the legislation, saying, “Our places of learning and healing must never be turned into the hunting grounds this federal administration has tried to make them out to be. I have sat with mothers who are afraid to send their children to school, and with farmworker families who live every day with the fear of being torn apart. No family should ever have to carry that weight.”
Former ICE Chief of Staff Jason P. Houser, who also served as a CBP (Customs and Border Protection) counterterrorism official and Afghanistan combat veteran, argued the law would help build trust. “Ensuring that officers are clearly identified, while providing sensible exceptions, helps protect both the public and law enforcement personnel,” Houser said. “Masking discredits law enforcement and disconnects officers from the communities they serve — making all of us less safe.”
The dispute sets the stage for a potential legal battle between California and the federal government over whether states can impose transparency requirements on federal agents operating within their borders. Newsom framed the laws as necessary to rebuild community trust, while DHS insisted they compromise officer safety.
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Well, the anti-Israel protestors on May 2nd, 2025 at the UCD Coffeehouse didn’t comply with UCD mask law either, so “we’re even” ?
Note: I actually blame UCD for allowing and not going after the protestors, not going after the person who assaulted BB at the Turning Point event, etc, etc, etc, more than the protestors themselves. UCD is the problem.
But still, “we’re even” ?