An appeals court on Wednesday blocked a California law from taking effect that would force federal immigration law enforcement officials to unmask and wear visible ID when on patrol.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a section of California’s No Vigilantes Act, which required federal law enforcement agents, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to wear visible ID, violated the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. The bill passed both chambers of the California legislature and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it into law in September 2025.
“We conclude that § 10 of the No Vigilantes Act attempts to directly regulate the United States in its performance of governmental functions,” The court’s opinion, authored by Trump-appointed Judge Mark Bennett, read in part. “The Supremacy Clause forbids the State from enforcing such legislation.”
“These laws shouldn’t even be necessary. We shouldn’t have unidentified, masked men terrorizing our communities,” A spokesperson for Newsom’s office told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We will continue demanding federal accountability and fighting against Trump and Miller’s reign of terror against our communities.”
Section 10 of California’s No Vigilantes Act required officials to display some type of identification that stated which agency they worked for and their name or a badge number. The section did not extend to those in undercover operations or those working in the state and stated that failure to comply was a misdemeanor under the law.
“Section 10 of the No Vigilantes Act attempts to directly regulate the federal government in its performance of law enforcement operations. It expressly applies to federal officers,” the ruling continued. “It seeks to control their conduct in performing law enforcement operations.”
“Huge legal victory this morning in the Ninth Circuit, where the court permanently enjoined California’s unconstitutional mask law targeting federal agents,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wrote on X about the ruling.
California has been at the center of both legislative pushes to limit ICE’s operations in the state and demonstrations that consumed Los Angeles last summer. The Department of Justice in October 2025 arrested ten defendants on charges of violence against law enforcement in a chaotic anti-ICE demonstration at a marijuana farm in California.
Federal Democratic Legislators also pushed for a nationwide maskless bill in July 2025, led by Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Alex Padilla of California. The Department of Homeland Security remains shut down as Senate Democrats attempted to push for reforms on ICE that included body cameras and no face masks.
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