Gov. Gavin Newsom of California signed legislation Saturday that would prevent federal immigration agents from wearing masks in the state, a direct response to President Donald Trump’s deportation crackdown in the Los Angeles region.
The new law is believed to be the first such ban in the nation, though it is likely to be challenged in court before it can go into effect in January because it is unclear whether California can enforce such restrictions on federal law enforcement. The bill also applies to local law enforcement.
In recent months, videos have spread across social media showing masked and armed immigration agents handcuffing immigrants in Southern California, drawing protests and criticism in the state.
Democratic leaders and immigration activists have suggested that agents have acted with impunity, knowing that their identities were cloaked and that it would be harder to hold them accountable.
“The impact of these policies all across this city, our state and nation are terrifying. It’s like a dystopian sci-fi movie — unmarked cars, people in masks, people quite literally disappearing,” Newsom said at a signing event Saturday in Los Angeles.
It is extremely rare for police officers to wear masks in democratic nations. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began wearing balaclavas and neck gaiters this year, in what might have been the first example of American law enforcement officers wearing masks.
Before this year, state and local leaders had been passing more laws moving in the direction of greater transparency, such as requiring officers to wear body cameras at all times.
Department of Homeland Security officials urged Newsom to veto the bill, which they said would increase harassment and assaults on officers.
“Comparing them to ‘secret police’ — likening them to the Gestapo — is despicable,” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the department, said in a statement. “Sanctuary politicians are trying to outlaw officers wearing masks to protect themselves from being doxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers.”
California’s law was opposed by numerous law enforcement agencies, who argued that officers must have the choice to cover their faces to protect themselves and their families from retaliation.
Aya Gruber, a constitutional law professor at the University of Southern California, said that the mask law was likely to be challenged along jurisdictional lines, and that the federal government would likely seek an injunction to prevent the law from going into effect.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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