Court rejects California's banning federal agents wearing masks

A federal court struck down California’s requirement that masked federal agents identify themselves

This is a blow to the state’s ongoing resistance to the Trump administration’s deportation program

A 9th U.S. Circuit Court panel handed down a ruling prohibiting California from enforcing a section of the 2025 law that mandates federal law enforcement officers visibly display identification while carrying out their duties.

The law was destined to face critical scrutiny from the federal judiciary. An 1890 Supreme Court case provides that a state cannot prosecute federal law enforcement officers acting in the course of their duties.

The law also ran headlong into the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, which holds that states may not regulate the operations of the federal government.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it in connection with a law that banned federal immigration agents from wearing masks. The Trump administration sued to challenge both of them.

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