The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Monday it will not comply with California’s new law banning federal immigration agents from covering their faces during enforcement operations.
“To be clear: We will NOT comply with [Gov.] Gavin Newsom’s unconstitutional mask ban,” DHS wrote on X. The department argued face coverings protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, citing a reported 1,000% increase in assaults and doxxing incidents targeting officers and their families.
Newsom signed the first-of-its-kind bill on Saturday, saying the law ensures ICE agents are “no longer hidden from accountability” and promotes “transparency” for citizens. Speaking at a high school, he framed the measure as resistance to Donald Trump’s immigration policies, saying, “That’s Trump’s America, but that’s not the America we’ve grown up in.”
California, where 27% of residents are foreign-born, has seen a surge in immigration enforcement. DHS said 5,000 people living in the country illegally were arrested in Los Angeles from June through August. Newsom’s office did not immediately comment on DHS’s refusal.
Sources
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