Masking Bill Fuels California Legal Battle Over Federal Immigration Agents

The videos have become almost routine: men in dark clothing and vests, often wearing masks, wrestling people to the ground and whisking them away in unmarked vehicles.

It could look like a kidnapping or a scene from a movie, but they are American immigration officers, and some of the people being swept up are U.S. citizens.

“That’s happening in the United States of America. Masked men jumping out of unmarked cars, people disappearing, no due process, no oversight, zero accountability,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said recently on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

“We’re losing confidence and trust in law enforcement,” he said, citing incidents where federal officers pointed guns at a teenager. “We had a 15-year-old disabled kid in Los Angeles who was waiting for his sister to come out of high school and they pulled out guns on this kid. They pulled out guns and handcuffed this young child.”

In response to the scenes, Newsom signed a bill last month barring local and federal law enforcement from wearing masks while on duty.

The new law quickly drew fire from federal officials. Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli instructed federal officers to disregard what he called a dangerous and unconstitutional law. In a recent interview on KCRA, Essayli accused California officials of passing the law because they “don’t want our immigration laws being enforced.”

“So they’re dehumanizing, and they’re delegitimizing the federal government. They call ICE agents kidnappers. They’re saying they’re making people disappear,” he said. “People are being arrested in compliance with federal law and the Constitution. … And all they’re doing with this bill and this rhetoric is putting the lives of our agents in danger.”

California’s latest immigration battle

The masking bill is the latest skirmish in an ongoing battle between California and the Trump administration over how federal law enforcement agencies operate in the state — a fight likely headed to court.

There’s already a pending federal lawsuit over President Donald Trump’s decision to seize control of the California National Guard earlier this summer and deploy guard troops and U.S. Marines to assist in immigration raids.

Last weekend, California also joined a lawsuit in Oregon challenging the president’s move to send National Guard troops into Portland. And legal battles over the state’s sanctuary laws, which prohibit state and local police from assisting in immigration enforcement, date back to Trump’s first term.

Essayli and other federal prosecutors have also aggressively pursued criminal charges against people who come into contact with federal officers, though many cases have been dismissed or reduced after grand juries declined to hand down indictments. In some cases, evidence contradicted Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Department of Homeland Security agents’ claims.

Critics say the aggressive tactics and lack of identification by immigration officers raise questions about both the rights of Americans and the accountability of federal law enforcement officers.

San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat, wrote the bill barring law enforcement from wearing masks. He said ICE’s “authoritarian tactics” are creating a combustible situation that makes law enforcement less safe by eroding trust with the public and opening the door to people impersonating law enforcement. It also makes it nearly impossible for Americans to know whether the people detaining them are actually law enforcement, he said.

The city of San José also passed a policy last week aimed at forcing federal immigration agents to unmask and identify themselves when they are working in the city.

“This entire ICE operation, essentially secret police, is terrifying and scary. Having ICE agents, and lord knows who else, vigilantes, bounty hunters, having them patrolling, roving around neighborhoods and grabbing people out of bus stops, out of their front yards, out their workplaces — it’s absolutely terrifying,” Wiener said. “You can’t even see the face of the person you’re dealing with. You don’t know who you’re interacting with.”

‘I’m a citizen. I am not doing anything wrong’

U.S. citizens, including George Retes, are among those being caught up.

Retes, a 25-year-old Army veteran and security guard, was arrested in July during a raid on the Ventura County cannabis farm where he works as a security guard. He was held for three days before being released without charges. After he wrote an op-ed about his experience, DHS accused him of assault on the social media platform X. No charges have been filed, according to his lawyers.

Retes said he tried to comply with orders as he approached the farm in his vehicle, but federal agents gave him contradictory commands before using tear gas, smashing his car window, pepper-spraying his face, pulling him out of the car and pinning him to the ground with their knees. He was transferred to a Los Angeles County facility and released without explanation.

Retes has filed a claim alleging unconstitutional detention — the precursor to a lawsuit — but his lawyers have been unable to identify the officers involved.

“I’m just trying to get to work. I’m a citizen. I am not doing anything wrong,” he said. “I thought everything was going to be OK.”

Retes missed his daughter’s third birthday during his detention, and was suspended from work for three weeks until he could prove he wasn’t charged with a crime.

Institute for Justice attorney Anya Bidwell, who represents Retes, alleged that his arrest and detention — and the threat of assault charges now being leveled at him — illustrate how ICE officers are comfortable acting with impunity.

Bidwell said federal regulations already require immigration officers to identify themselves when making arrests — a point noted in a letter earlier this year from Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, who demanded ICE agents unmask and identify themselves.

“This administration is kind of just exploiting the cracks that we have in the system,” Bidwell said. “Federal officials have such a high degree of immunity that they essentially don’t even care if they break the law.”

“They’re not following their own regulations,” she added. “But again, it doesn’t matter that they’re not following their own regulations, at least in their mind, because like, go ahead, sue me. What are you going to do?”

Local police caught in the middle

By contrast, local and state police in California are legally required to identify themselves in most cases, said Brian Marvel, president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, or PORAC. The group represents 87,000 rank-and-file police officers in the state.

“You have to have either a badge or a name or identification indicating that you’re a peace officer in the state of California,” Marvel said, adding that after someone is arrested,” their name, their ID number and the agency they work for will be all available to that individual.”

PORAC opposed the masking bill, arguing that it unfairly entangles local police in a broader political fight that’s really about federal authorities. Marvel said no California agency uses masks to conceal identity, but the law could expose officers to lawsuits even if they cover their faces for legitimate reasons, like cold weather or to protect their health and safety.

Federal officials have made clear they will not comply. Before Newsom signed the bill, Department of Homeland Security officials called on the governor to veto it. In a statement, DHS insisted federal agents do identify themselves but wear masks to prevent doxing and retaliation from “highly sophisticated gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13, criminal rings, murderers, and rapists.”

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin went on to blame Wiener for violence against ICE agents, saying that his legislation “and rhetoric comparing them to ‘secret police’ — likening them to the Gestapo — is despicable.”

Wiener, who has himself been frequently targeted and doxed, said McLaughlin’s comments are meant to silence critics.

“None of us want anyone to be doxed,” he said. “Being a law enforcement officer has certain risks. Just like being an elected official has certain risks … Anyone who says, ‘I can only be a law enforcement officer on patrol if I wear a ski mask,’ I think that person needs to do some introspection and decide if law enforcement is really the right calling for them.”

Still, Wiener and others acknowledged that the public runs the risk of criminal charges if they don’t comply with a federal agent. Marvel, from PORAC, recommended compliance even if an agent refuses to show identification.

“Here in America, the likelihood of that actually being a legitimate kidnapping is pretty slight. So I would assume that they are legitimate law enforcement officers,” he said. “Compliance is the best route because it’s less likely to escalate a situation, less likely to turn into a violent altercation or an officer-involved shooting.”

UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said police have a clear obligation to identify themselves when arresting someone.

“If law enforcement personnel take somebody and arrest them, law enforcement personnel need to let them know that they have been arrested,” he said. “It’s the only way for somebody to know that they haven’t been kidnapped. And so when ICE agents in masks without identification are taking people into custody, that shouldn’t be deemed a lawful arrest.”

But Chemerinsky acknowledged the only recourse is a lawsuit or asking a judge to dismiss charges. Neither, he said, is a sure bet.