By Shari Rendall
FAIR
As conflicts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) escalate in sanctuary cities like Portland, Oregon and Minneapolis, Minnesota, democrat leaders across the country are demanding that ICE officers be prohibited from wearing masks.
To date this legislative session, 15 states have proposed bills to prohibit law enforcement officers from wearing masks to protect themselves and their families by shielding their identities. While most of the bills have been introduced in Democrat states (Alaska, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington) Republican-controlled states of Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee also have proposed legislation.
Legislators are not the only ones to jump into the fray to oppose ICE agents in their states. Twenty-one democrat state attorney generals (AGs) sent a letter to Members of Congress urging them to pass legislation to prohibit immigration agents from wearing masks to conceal their identity. In their letter they claimed that ICE agents wearing masks “have the effect of terrorizing communities rather than protecting them.” These AGs further contend that “the commonplace use of masks and the failure of ICE to identify themselves as law enforcement makes everyone less safe and weakens the integrity of our justice systems.”
However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) justifiably says that these legislative bans “stoke dangerous rhetoric against ICE agents.” In a January 8 statement released by DHS, the agency pointed out that ICE officers now face “a more than 1,300% increase in assaults, a 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks against them, and an 8,000% increase in death threats.”
California was the first, and so far, the only state to pass legislation prohibiting masking. The legislature passed the No Secret Police Act, Senate Bill (SB) 627 which Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law on September 20.
On November 17, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit to block the implementation of California’s law which was set to go into effect on January 1, 2026, but was paused to allow the court to hear arguments in the case on January 14. In its complaint, DOJ asserted that the law violates the Supremacy clause by attempting to regulate federal agencies and forcing them to adopt certain policies. The complaint also stated that the federal government will not comply with this unconstitutional law that “recklessly disregards officers’ safety and federal operational needs.”
Stay tuned for an update on the constitutionality of these bills banning masks for ICE agents. In the meantime, FAIR will continue to fight to allow immigration officers to safely perform their jobs.
