California Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed a law banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from wearing masks while making arrests, a move that’s already garnered pushback from ICE and Republican officials.
The “No Secret Police Act” forces ICE agents to show their faces as they make arrests on the streets of California. It comes as President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort continues across the country and as ICE agents carrying out the historic campaign face a 1,000% increase in assaults.
Agency sources, however, told The Daily Wire that the new law won’t stop them from masking their faces. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli confirmed Monday on “Fox & Friends” that California “does not and cannot have jurisdiction” over the federal agents.
“Nice try by Newsom, but he knows it doesn’t apply to federal agents. He loves stirring the pot so that people find more ways to bring conflict to ICE,” said one ICE source.
Incidents of doxxing have increased as activist groups have set up online databases to reveal photos of federal agents and publicize their names and locations.
Credit: Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
“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, no due process, no rights in a democracy where we have rights, immigrants have rights, and we have the right to stand up and push back,” Newsom said at a press conference Saturday.
“This is to inflame the public.”@USAttyEssayli slams California Gov. Newsom’s bill barring law enforcement, including ICE, from wearing masks on the job. pic.twitter.com/EoIKvtD5ay
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) September 22, 2025
(Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Over the summer, rioters attempted to impede ICE operations in Los Angeles by blocking major highways, setting cars ablaze, and hurling concrete blocks at the feds. In response to the chaos erupting in the streets, Trump deployed 4,000 National Guard soldiers and 700 Marines.
BLAKE FAGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the new law “despicable” and “a flagrant attempt to endanger” federal officers.
“Sanctuary politicians’ rhetoric comparing ICE to ‘secret police’ — likening them to the Gestapo — is diabolical,” McLaughlin said.
“While our federal law enforcement officers are being assaulted by rioters and having rocks and Molotov cocktails thrown at them, a sanctuary politician is trying to outlaw officers wearing masks to protect themselves from being doxxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers,” she said. “Not only is ICE law enforcement facing a more than 1,000 percent increase in assaults, but we’ve also seen thugs launch websites to reveal officers’ identity. We will prosecute those who dox our agents to the fullest extent of the law.”
“The men and women at CBP, ICE, and all of our federal law enforcement agencies put their lives on the line every day to arrest violent criminal illegal aliens to protect and defend the lives of American citizens. Make no mistake, this type of rhetoric is contributing to the surge in assaults of officers through their repeated vilification and demonization,” she added.
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