Federal court makes stunning ruling on California law forcing ICE agents to wear IDs

A California appeals court has blocked a move by Gov. Gavin Newsom to force ICE agents to wear identification, saying that the state couldn’t regulate actions by the federal government.

The three judge panel in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday agreed with the Trump administration that the California law violated the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause by interfering with federal officers’ duties. It had previously granted a temporary administrative injunction to block the implementation of the law.

In an opinion written by Judge Mark J. Bennett, the appeals court said that the CA law  “attempts to directly regulate the United States in its performance of governmental functions.”

Los Angeles’ top federal prosecutor celebrated Wednesday’s ruling.

“Huge legal victory this morning in the Ninth Circuit, where the court permanently enjoined California’s unconstitutional mask law targeting federal agents, First Assistant US Attorney for the Central District Bill Essayli wrote in a post on X.

His post included comments from the ruling

“The Supremacy Clause forbids the State from enforcing such legislation,” it read. “The United States is therefore likely to succeed on the merits of its Supremacy Clause claim, and the other preliminary injunction factors also weigh in its favor.”

“Thus, we grant the motion for an injunction pending appeal.”

In 2025, Newsom signed Senate Bill 627, also known as the No Secret Police Act, to prohibit local and federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks or facial coverings to conceal their identity while conducting official duties. The law was set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

In response the Trump administration filed suit in the Central District of California in November citing safety concerns for federal officers who it previously said were being “harassed, doxxed, obstructed, and attacked on a regular basis just for doing their jobs.”

In February, a federal judge partially blocked the law affecting federal law enforcement.

The judge upheld the mask requirement of the law, but ruled in favor of the provision that requires law enforcement officers — federal and state — to wear badges or other identification on their uniforms.

Lawyers for the state had argued that the law would be applicable for all law enforcement, not just those with the federal government, per the Associated Press.

And that states could apply “generally applicable” laws for federal agents, claiming it was needed for the safety of the public.

In a brief opposing the injunction, California lawyers said that “People are more likely to attack officers in self-defense if there’s no visible identification letting the public know they are law enforcement, 

“This confusion has resulted in federal law enforcement officials being mistaken for criminals and vice versa, creating serious risk of harm to peace officers and members of the public,” they wrote.

The judges said they did not consider the public safety factors because the federal government has demonstrate its constitutional rights would be violated by the legislation, and “all citizens have a stake in upholding the Constitution,” it ruled, quoting previous case law.

A spokesperson for Newsom responded to Wednesday’s ruling saying “these laws shouldn’t even be necessary,” calling out Trump and his Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.

“We shouldn’t have unidentified, masked men terrorizing our communities,” a statement to The Post read. “We will continue demanding federal accountability and fighting against Trump and Miller’s reign of terror against our communities.”

The legislation did not apply to state law enforcement and made exceptions for undercover agents, protective equipment like N95 respirators or tactical gear, and other situations where not wearing a mask would jeopardize the operation.

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