Trump Administration Sues California Over Laws Requiring Federal Agents To Identify Themselves And Banning Masks

The Trump administration is suing the state of California because California officials have this strange idea that law enforcement officers who are given authority and demand compliance from the public should have to identify themselves, including allowing people to see their faces.

Insanity, amirite?

According to CBS News, on Monday, the Department of Justice filed its lawsuit over two laws enacted by state officials. One law would prohibit federal agents from wearing facial coverings, and the other would require them to identify themselves while conducting their duties. The government argues that California’s laws violate the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, under which federal laws take precedence over state laws. (Wow, they call that the Supremacy Clause? Well, that’s — that’s interesting.)

Of course, the Trump administration’s core argument appears to be that forcing federal agents to perform their duties unmasked makes them vulnerable to being doxxed.

From CBS:

The federal government said in court documents that it “does not intend to comply.” 

“Today we filed a lawsuit to strike down California’s unconstitutional law aimed at unmasking the faces of our federal agents, which will allow criminals to dox them,” Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, wrote on X. “Unconstitutional laws such as this one further endanger our brave men and women protecting our community.” 

A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the lawsuit in a statement to CBS News.

“If the Trump administration cared half as much about public safety as it does about pardoning cop-beaters, violating people’s rights, and detaining U.S. citizens and their kids, our communities would be much safer,” spokesperson Diana Crofts-Pelayo wrote. “We’ll see the U.S. Department of Justice in court.”

Newsom, who signed the No Secret Police Act into law in September, is right, of course.

Across the nation, citizens have been filming immigration agents at work and recording countless incidents in which federal officers are clearly using excessive force. Federal courts have found that agents are relying on racial profiling to target detainees. Federal judges have also admonished agents for their use of tear gas near residents and schools, making warrantless arrests, and failing to wear or turn on body cameras.

Just last week, we reported that a local police officer in Southern California had to intervene as a plainclothes Border Patrol officer pointed his gun at a woman who was in her vehicle after accusing her of following him while he was conducting an operation, because, in his mind, it’s reasonable for a civilian to know a fed cop is a fed cop even if he isn’t in uniform. Meanwhile, the cop who intervened was dressed like a cop — which brings me to my next point.

This idea that federal agents are being placed in danger if they’re forced to identify themselves is a farce that only the bootlickingest bootlicker would believe.

Regular cops wear uniforms, and citizens can ask them for their name and badge number if they wish to file a complaint. And while no law requires an officer to identify themselves upon request, they do have to identify themselves when using their police powers. Even undercover officers have to identify themselves when it’s time to make an arrest. So, why shouldn’t ICE and Border Patrol agents be subject to the same? Because their presence isn’t popular with the communities they’re deployed to? In the summer of 2020, there were seemingly endless protests that media and government officials declared to be anti-police protests largely because they were sparked by the murder of George Floyd. Does anyone remember any state or federal government official launching a campaign to allow beat cops to wear masks to conceal their identities?

Now, to be fair, the Trump administration also argued in its suit that California is discriminating against federal agents, because California Highway Patrol, undercover operatives, members of SWAT teams, and cops who have health issues or who need masks for medical reasons are exempt from the No Secret Police Act. Still, immigration agents aren’t working under cover, and they’re not wearing masks for health reasons. It seems clear that they just want to cover their faces because running around hog wild and regularly violating people’s civil rights has made them social pariahs. They could always try not running around hog wild and regularly violating people’s civil rights.

The Trump administration hasn’t even been able to offer tangible proof that federal agents are “under siege” in these cities, which they’ve been deployed to, despite local officials making it clear they don’t want them there. This is why National Guard troops were ordered to leave Chicago and Portland. Meanwhile, officials in Illinois, Oregon, California, North Carolina, and elsewhere have said repeatedly that federal officers are making their communities less safe and more fearful.

Then, of course, there’s the fact that the FBI recently warned that criminals are in the streets impersonating ICE agents, and posted a bulletin requesting that ICE agents “identify themselves during operations and cooperate with individuals who request further verification.”

Look, it’s going to be up to a judge to decide whether or not the federal government has the right to dictate law enforcement procedures in sovereign states, but this idea that federal cops —the ones who have been granted power and authority over the civilian population — should be allowed to conceal their identities because their safety should be prioritized over that of the civilian population is absurd.

They’re wearing masks so they can operate with impunity, and the people should have the right to know who is policing them, whether the law says so or not.

We’re told by cops all the time that if we have nothing to hide, we have nothing to worry about. The same should apply to cops — all cops.

SEE ALSO:

ICE Masks Are Just Modern Ku Klux Klan Hoods [Op-Ed]

ICE Agents Claim Assaults Are Reasons For Masks, But That’s A Lie