New CA Law Bans Fed Agents from Wearing Masks during Immigration Raids

"The state law gives law enforcement officers a choice: If they cover their faces, they lose the ability to assert "qualified immunity," the doctrine that protects officers from individual liability for their actions. That means they can be sued for assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest or malicious prosecution, and the law adds a clause that says the minimum penalty for committing those offenses while wearing a mask is $10,000."

"Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez, a Los Angeles Democrat who co-authored the law, said it was necessary to rein in anonymous federal agents. "We initially were under the understanding that, oh, they're only targeting folks who were not citizens," Gonzalez said, "And then actually over time you learn they don't give a shit who you are, they're attacking you no matter what, with no due process.""

"An 1890 Supreme Court case provides that a state cannot prosecute a federal law enforcement officer acting in the course of their duties. The Trump administration said in its brief to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California that forcing agents to reveal their identities would put the agents at risk. During Immigration and Customs Enforcement "actions, individuals can be heard threatening to doxx and find out who officers and their family members are and where they live," the administration's lawyers said"

Many federal agents wore masks during 2025 immigration raids across California. In January, California and its largest county will ban law enforcement officers from covering their faces, with limited exceptions. The state law conditions qualified immunity on officers remaining unmasked and exposes masked officers to civil suits for assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, or malicious prosecution, with a minimum penalty of $10,000 for offenses committed while masked. The Trump administration sued to block the law, citing an 1890 Supreme Court precedent that prevents state prosecution of federal officers and arguing that revealing identities would endanger agents and their families.

Read at San Jose Inside