California will be the first state to ban most law enforcement agencies, including federal immigration agents. Cover their faces While conducting official business under the bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday.
The ban is a direct response to California’s recent series Los Angeles immigrant raid Where federal agents were wearing masks while arresting massive amounts of arrests. The attacks prompted several days of protests across the city, leading President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard and Marines in the region.
Newsom said California is unique. 27% of the residents are born abroad.
“We celebrate that diversity. That’s what makes California great. That’s what makes America great. It’s under the attack,” he told a press conference in Los Angeles. “This is the United States of America and I am truly proud of the state of California and our state of mind. I am proud to oppose these authoritarian tendencies and the actions of this administration.”
AP Audio: California prohibits most law enforcement officials from wearing masks while operating
Associated Press Correspondent Julie Walker reports that California prohibits most law enforcement officials from wearing masks during operations.
However, it is unclear how the state could enforce the ban on federal agents carrying out these attacks. Homeland Security officials called it “despicable” in a statement this week, adding that the ban would only put officials at risk.
“People cannot learn whether to live in fear of being deported. The California Safe Haven School Act is a clear message to Donald Trump: “Protecting the ice from our schools,” said Congressman Al Muratsuchi of D-Torrance.
The Department of Homeland Security said it sent letters to the attorney generals of California, Illinois and New York on Friday. The Democratic-led state has stepped up previous instructions to honor detainees from US immigrants and customs enforcement agencies of “illegal criminal aliens within their jurisdiction.” In a statement Saturday, DHS said if the state fails to comply, it will pursue “all appropriate measures to end the inevitable irresponsible obstruction.”
Messages seeking comment from DHS and ICE were not immediately returned after the law was signed.
Newsom, a Democrat who stopped using federal agents’ masks during his official business, said the measure would help California push back federal overreach. He signed the bill in Los Angeles, adjacent to state legislators and members of the immigration community.
The new law prohibits neck gaiters, ski masks and other facial coverings for local and federal officers, including immigration enforcement agents. It makes exceptions for medical masks such as undercover agents, N95 ventilators, or tactical gear. It does not apply to state police.
Trump administration officials have consistently defended the practice, saying immigration agents are working on enforcement that will help drive to a massive deportation, and that hiding their identity is facing intense public and online harassment as they are enforced for the safety of their and their families.
Federal agents have already identified themselves and are instructed to wear vests with ice and homeland security markers during operation, Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement this week.
“All men and women in CBP, ICE and our federal law enforcement risk their lives every day to arrest violent, illegal foreigners who are unlawful to protect and protect the lives of American citizens,” she said.
Congressional Democrats and lawmakers from several states, including Tennessee, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, have also introduced similar proposals calling for a mask ban for law enforcement officials.
Supporters said mask bans are particularly necessary after the Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the federal administration could resume its radical immigration operations in Los Angeles. The new law aims to raise public confidence in law enforcement and prevent people from committing crimes against police, supporters said.
Irwin Kemerinski, a constitutional expert at the University of California, Berkeley, also defended the law. Federal employees must follow general state rules, unless doing so significantly impedes performance in their duties. For example, federal employees must stop with a red light while on work,” he wrote. Opinion piece For Sacramento Bee.
The rise in famous immigration enforcement has already been controversial between those who oppose the actions of the Trump administration and those who support them. Masked Agent View Doing it creates a whole new level of conflict.
The mask ban is one of many measures approved by Democratic-controlled Congress in response to Trump’s massive deportation policy. Saturday’s newspaper signed a law to prevent immigration officers from entering schools and medical facilities without a valid warrant or judicial order, and to request schools. Notify parents and teachers When immigration agents are on campus.
This is part of the state legislators’ efforts to protect California’s progressive values. The council earlier this year also granted the award $50 million More than 40 lawsuits have arisen against the administration in California’s Department of Justice and other legal groups.
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Belisle reported from Seattle. Tran Nguyen was reported from Sacramento.
