California state lawmakers have introduced a bill in the state legislature that would ban law enforcement from covering their faces. The move from Democrat state Sens. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Jesse Arreguín (D-Oakland) is in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers covering their faces while conducting operations, as there has been a high increase in violence against ICE agents.

Wiener posted to X, “We don’t need ski-masked secret police in California. It’s why we’re advancing legislation to ban this kind of masking by law enforcement.”

In past posts related to Covid-19, Wiener has said that masking “saves lives” and not wearing a mask is “dangerous behavior.”

In comments to ABC7 about officers wearing masks, Wiener said that because of face coverings, “There is no transparency and no accountability,” with immigration raids. He has also said that the ICE operations with the masks have “created an environment of profound terror” in the state. 

The bill, called the “No Secret Police Act,” would mandate that law enforcement cannot cover their faces when carrying out operations. 

“What we have been seeing in the last few weeks are law enforcement—some local, some federal—who are wearing masks to completely hide their faces while they are carrying out deportation and other enforcement activities,” Arreguín said.

Other parts of the legislation would require that law enforcement wear clear name tags and badge numbers, and it would also apply to officers contracted to work in California from out of state. Exceptions would only be made for SWAT teams or those wearing protective gear for certain situations.

“We don’t need law enforcement officers who are covering their faces, who are not identifying themselves, who are jumping out of unmarked vehicles and grabbing residents of this state,” Wiener said.

The law comes after the anti-ICE Los Angeles riots that took place earlier in June. Additionally, there has been a reported 500 percent increase in assaults against ICE agents as the agency has been carrying out more immigration raids in line with President Donald Trump’s effort to deport illegal immigrants. 

There has been pushback against the bill, with some calling into question the ability of states to regulate federal law enforcement. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon posted to X in response to Wiener speaking about the bill, “Scott, go check with a lawyer if this is a thing, and get back to us. (Hint — it isn’t— states can’t regulate what federal law enforcement wears).”

There have also been calls for masks to be banned for protesters, as many of those at the LA riots were wearing masks to hide their identity. This makes it more difficult for police to track suspects down after crimes are committed. Wiener and Arreguín’s bill, however, does not include anything about banning masks at protests.

The issue of wearing masks at protests and other settings has been an issue before, in the context of the First Amendment, which has not been resolved yet by the Supreme Court, per the AP.

While the anti-ICE riots raged in LA, Trump posted to Truth Social, “MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests.” There have also been several states, as well as Washington, DC, that have restricted wearing masks, and many others have introduced legislation to ban them at protests.

Those in favor of allowing masks at protests have argued that anonymity is key to free speech and the First Amendment because of fears of retaliation from the government or others. Meanwhile, those who are in favor of banning them at protests have talked about how masks hide the identities of those who commit crimes during demonstrations.