California bill that would mostly prohibit local, federal officers from concealing faces heads to governor's desk

"We are seeing a situation where ICE agents, or perhaps bounty hunters or vigilantes, or who knows who are running around in our communities with effectively ski masks as if they were robbing a liquor store, grabbing people, throwing them into unmarked vehicles and taking them we don't even know where to a gulag somewhere, to some sort of holding facility and tearing them apart from their families, Wiener said at a public safety committee Thursday."

"If you try to just imagine that you're walking down the street and someone in a ski mask comes up to you, not even in a uniform, and says, You're under arrest. Come with me,' what kind of country is that where we would ever allow that to happen? The governor's press office declined to indicate Newsom's position on the bill, citing its practice of not typically commenting on pending legislation."

SB 627, titled the No Secret Police Act, would prohibit local and federal officers from concealing their faces under most circumstances. The measure was introduced in reaction to masked tactics by federal agents during immigration enforcement and to increasing vigilante and impersonation incidents that have raised community fear and distrust. The bill passed the California Assembly 45-23 and the Senate 26-9 and now awaits Governor Gavin Newsom's signature or veto by Oct. 13. The governor's press office declined to indicate his position, citing a practice of not commenting on pending legislation. The bill appears amid wider legislative activity tied to expanded immigration enforcement and funding.

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