Trump administration sues to stop California’s law enforcement mask ban
By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN
(CNN) — The Trump administration on Monday challenged in federal court California’s ban on most law enforcement officers from wearing masks during operations, a move the Department of Justice insisted was necessary to protect federal agents.
In a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California, the Trump administration argued that California’s law, signed in September in response to immigration raids over the summer in Los Angeles, was an unconstitutional attempt to regulate federal law enforcement officers.
The move comes after months of immigration arrests conducted by masked federal agents who use aggressive tactics across the country. California’s ban was slated to go into effect in January next year.
The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted masks are an important precaution taken to maintain the safety of law enforcement officers. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a press release Monday that “they do not deserve to be doxed or harassed simply for carrying out their duties.”
“California’s anti-law enforcement policies discriminate against the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents,” she said.
Meanwhile, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has insisted the ban pushes back against the federal government’s use of masked agents without identification or badge numbers to detain people on the streets during immigration raids.
“It’s like a dystopian sci-fi movie. Unmarked cars, people in masks, people quite literally disappearing,” Newsom said at a press conference when he signed the law. “Immigrants have rights, and we have the right to stand up and push back, and that’s what we’re doing here today.”
The law, the first of its kind in the United States according to the Associated Press, bars neck gaiters, ski masks and other facial coverings for local and federal officers who are conducting official business. There are exceptions for undercover agents, medical masks and tactical gear. The ban does not apply to state police.
Currently, there is no federal policy dictating when officers can or should cover their faces during arrests. Historically, officers have almost always concealed their faces only while performing undercover work to protect the integrity of ongoing investigations, law enforcement experts have told CNN.
The practice of hiding of agents’ faces, badges and identifying uniforms has made it difficult for members of the public to know whether the immigration arrests over the past several months are legitimate. John Sandweg, former acting director of ICE under President Barack Obama, told CNN in August that it was “incredibly dangerous” for the officers to make arrests without clearly identifying themselves.
“The risk is really obvious, right? You’re sitting there and all of a sudden a bunch of masked men run out and are grabbing someone on the street,” he said on the CNN One Thing podcast. “There are good, well-intentioned bystanders who might think that they need to step in and help and that they’re witnessing a kidnapping.”
CNN’s Eric Levenson and Josh Campbell contributed to this report.
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