LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Trump administration filed a lawsuit Monday over California’s new legal guidelines banning federal brokers from sporting masks and requiring them to have identification whereas conducting operations within the state.
The federal authorities has argued the legal guidelines threaten the protection of officers who’re going through “unprecedented” harassment, doxing, and violence and mentioned it is not going to adjust to them.
California turned the primary state to ban most legislation enforcement officers, together with federal immigration brokers, from masking their faces whereas conducting official enterprise below a invoice that was signed in September by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The legislation prohibits neck gaiters, ski masks and different facial coverings for native and federal officers, together with immigration enforcement brokers, whereas they conduct official enterprise. It makes exceptions for undercover brokers, protecting tools like N95 respirators or tactical gear, and it doesn’t apply to state police.
Newsom additionally signed laws requiring legislation enforcement to put on clear identification displaying their company and badge quantity whereas on the job. The legal guidelines require federal legislation enforcement businesses to difficulty a masks coverage by July 1, 2026, and a visual identification coverage by Jan. 1, 2026.
“California’s anti-law enforcement policies discriminate against the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents. These laws cannot stand,” U.S. Legal professional Common Pam Bondi mentioned in a press launch.
The lawsuit mentioned there have been a number of incidents the place Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers had been adopted and their households threatened. It cites a case of three girls in Los Angeles who’re being accused of livestreaming whereas following an ICE agent dwelling and posting the tackle on Instagram.
“Given the personal threats and violence that agents face, federal law enforcement agencies allow their officers to choose whether to wear masks to protect their identities and provide an extra layer of security,” the lawsuit mentioned.
Newsom has referred to as the follow of masked federal brokers arresting individuals throughout the state “dystopian.”
Critics have raised issues in regards to the elevated position of federal brokers in native policing and sometimes unidentified brokers conducting immigration enforcement actions.
“If the Trump administration cared half as much about public safety as it does about pardoning cop-beaters, violating people’s rights, and detaining U.S. citizens and their kids, our communities would be much safer,” a spokesperson for Newsom’s workplace mentioned in a press release.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a memo in October to legislation enforcement businesses throughout the nation advising officers to obviously determine themselves within the discipline. It cited a number of incidents the place masked criminals posed as immigration officers robbed and kidnapped victims.
The federal authorities additionally mentioned in its lawsuit that the legal guidelines violate the Supremacy Clause of the Structure, which prohibits states from regulating the federal authorities. It mentioned the legislation banning federal officers from sporting masks discriminates towards the federal authorities as a result of it exempts state police.
California Legal professional Common Rob Bonta’s workplace mentioned it was reviewing the criticism.
“It’s problematic when Californians can’t tell the difference between a law enforcement officer who is charged with protecting them and a criminal who is attempting to cause them harm,” Bonta’s workplace mentioned in a press release. “The FBI itself has warned that the practice of ICE agents obscuring their identity has led to a rise in copycats committing crimes, threatening public safety and eroding trust in law enforcement.”
