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California’s Legislature on Thursday passed a bill that bans federal and state law enforcement officials from wearing masks, with some exceptions. The bill now goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature.
As the Los Angeles Times reported:
The California Legislature on Thursday passed a pair of bills to prohibit on-duty law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, from masking their faces and to require them to identify themselves. Senate Bill 627, written by Sens. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Jesse Arreguín (D-Berkeley), includes exceptions for SWAT teams and others. The measure was introduced after the Trump administration ordered immigration raids throughout the Los Angeles area earlier this year.
Masked federal agents enacting Trump’s anti-immigration and mass incarceration agenda have drawn comparisons to the Ku Klux Klan from historians and legal experts who’ve witnessed disturbing scenes of masked men hauling away purportedly undocumented immigrants. The Trump administration officials like border czar Tom Homan have argued the anonymity is necessary to keep agents and their families safe.
The first-of-its-kind bill still allows law enforcement to wear some masks, including clear or translucent masks, N95 medical or surgical masks, and masks for approved undercover assignments, according to a press release from Wiener’s office. Similar bills have been introduced in other states, and Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a similar ban, as well.
The bill was opposed by Republicans in the state Legislature, and Politico reports that some Democrats abstained, “citing concerns from law enforcement lobby groups who said they objected to local police and sheriff’s deputies being lumped in with federal officers.”
Wiener said the California legislation is “all the more urgent” following a Supreme Court decision this week that permits immigration enforcement agents in Los Angeles to detain people simply because they speak Spanish or are performing certain jobs.
“Law enforcement should never be easily confused with the guy in the ski mask robbing a liquor store, yet that’s what’s happening with ICE’s extreme masking,” Wiener said in the release. “In the face of rising fascism, California must hold those who are threatening our communities accountable and restore confidence in our local law enforcement who are proud to show their faces.”