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The Trump administration filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging California’s law banning federal immigration agents from wearing face masks to hide their identities, arguing that the measure is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit claims that the state does not have the authority to restrict federal agents.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the No Secret Police Act and the No Vigilantes Act into law in September. Under the bills, most law enforcement, including federal agents, would be barred from wearing masks on the job and non-uniformed officers would be required to visibly display identification during their duties.
Exceptions to the mask ban would be permitted for undercover agents, for those using medical masks like N95 respirators or as part of tactical gear.
NEWSOM BANS LAW ENFORCEMENT FROM WEARING MASKS, TAUNTS ICE AGENTS: ‘WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?’
Newsom said that federal immigration officers would no longer be “hidden from accountability” while performing operations in California.
“That’s not the America we’ve grown up in. And so we are pushing back,” he said ahead of the bill signings.
Federal agents have conducted immigration raids in Southern California since June, targeting migrant workers at local businesses that sparked protests and the subsequent federal deployment of the National Guard and Marines. During the raids, some federal agents wore masks and hid their identities.
The administration urged the court to deem the laws a violation of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and issue a preliminary injunction blocking California from enforcing the laws.
The Supremacy Clause establishes that federal law is the “supreme Law of the Land,” overriding state law.
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE PASSES BILL PROHIBITING LAW ENFORCEMENT FROM WEARING FACE MASKS TO SHIELD IDENTITIES
The lawsuit also argues that the California laws violate Article 5, Section 301 of the U.S. Code, which says agency heads “may prescribe regulations for the government of his department [and] the conduct of its employees.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Monday that the California laws “discriminate against the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents.”
After Newsom signed the measures, administration officials directed ICE agents to ignore the California laws.
The Department of Homeland Security said on Sept. 22 that it will “NOT comply with Gavin Newsom’s unconstitutional mask ban,” pointing to an increase in threats towards ICE officers.
The lawsuit also argues that the California laws “would recklessly endanger the lives of federal agents and their family members and compromise the operational effectiveness of federal law enforcement activities.”
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But supporters of masks for immigration agents say that the use of face coverings generates fear among the public and must be stopped.
Newsom office said that California officials “will see the [DOJ] in court.”
“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,” spokesperson Diana Crofts-Pelayo said in a statement to The Hill, referring to President Donald Trump pardoning more than 1,000 people who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.
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