A federal judge ruled Monday that California can’t enforce a law banning federal immigration agents from wearing masks.
Judge Christina A. Snyder from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled that California’s “No Secret Police Act” both discriminates against the federal government for solely applying to federal law enforcement and violates its power granted by the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law in September to ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from wearing masks while making arrests, forcing them to show their faces. The Department of Homeland Security quickly jumped to condemn the law, calling it “a flagrant attempt to endanger” federal officers.
ICE agents currently face a more than 1,000% increase in assaults, a surge in doxxing efforts, and a roughly 8,000% jump in death threats, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Left-wing activist groups have set up online databases to reveal photos of federal agents and publicize their names and locations.
In cities like Minneapolis, ICE Watch groups follow federal immigration agents to nearly every arrest site, snapping pictures of them and their license plates to alert the public to their whereabouts.
After the California law passed, United States Attorney Bill Essayli said California “does not and cannot have jurisdiction” over the federal agents.
Over the summer, Los Angeles became the center of aggressive immigration raids that drew violent rioters that blocked major highways, set cars ablaze, and hurled concrete blocks at law enforcement.
President Donald Trump responded to the mobs by sending in 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines to quell the melee.
In an attempt to change the judge’s mind, Democratic Senator Scott Weiner announced that he would swiftly file a bill to include California Highway Patrol in the mask ban.
In her ruling, the judge did scrutinize the Trump administration, saying that “federal officers can perform their federal functions without wearing masks.”
In a statement, Weiner called Snyder’s ruling “a huge win,” adding that for the law “to be enforceable it must apply to all levels of police — not just federal and local officers but also state officers.”
“Now that the Court has made clear that state officers must be included, I am immediately introducing new legislation to include state officers. I will do everything in my power to expedite passage of this adjustment to the No Secret Police Act.”
