The Department of Homeland Security has said it will refuse to comply with a new California law that bans ICE agents from hiding their faces during immigration raids.
On Saturday California Governor Gavin Newsom gave his assent to a bill forbidding local or federal law enforcement agents to wear ski masks, neck gaiters, or other face coverings while on official business.
Wearing masks is rare in the history of American law enforcement, but has become routine under the Trump administration as agents reportedly racing to fulfill stringent arrest quotas round up thousands of immigrants without criminal records.
“It’s like a dystopian sci-fi movie — unmarked cars, people in masks, people quite literally disappearing,” Newsom said as he signed the bill. “This is a disgrace. This is an outrage, what we’ve allowed to happen in this country.”
But on Monday DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said her forces would defy the ban, calling it “a disgusting, diabolical fundraising and P.R. stunt.”
“Governor Gavin Newsom is fanning the flames of division, hatred and dehumanization of our law enforcement,” said McLaughlin in a statement.
“At a time that ICE law enforcement faces a 1,000 percent increase in assaults and their family members are being doxxed and targeted, the sitting Governor of California signs unconstitutional legislation that strips law enforcement of protections…
“To be crystal clear: we will not abide by Newsom’s unconstitutional ban.”
DHS spokespeople have repeatedly claimed that masks are necessary to protect its agents, giving ever-increasing figures for the rise in assaults from 300 percent in April to 500 percent in June to 1,000 percent today.
But officials have repeatedly refused to release the underlying data, give further details, or clarify what counts as an assault, leading many journalists to question such numbers.
ICE arrests have also doubled or tripled in many states, meaning incidents stemming from arrests would naturally also increase. What little data DHS has released show that the overall number of incidents was quite low, with 79 assaults in the first half of 2025 compared to 10 the previous year.
The Independent has asked DHS for comment.
In an interview with Fox News, Bill Essayli, the Acting U.S. Attorney for Central California, accused Democrats of whipping up a violent fervor against ICE agents simply doing their jobs.
“The left continues to fuel this insanity, [this] hysteria, that the federal government is somehow an illegitimate force and it’s okay to oppose ICE.
“So what they do is lay the gasoline and the matches out and they get people spun up and they hope that someone does what they want ’em to do, which is burn the place down because they don’t get their way.
“We’re not putting up with it, and if you try that here, you’ll end up in handcuffs.”
Critics say that routine mask-wearing insulates ICE agents against the consequences of breaking rules or abusing detainees, as well as making it easier for criminals to impersonate law enforcement.
Whether California’s ban is constitutional remains unclear. In general, U.S. states can’t regulate the federal government but can force federal agents to follow local laws as long as it does not undermine their work.
