Overview

• Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law on Sept. 20 prohibiting officers from covering their faces during official duties, with exceptions for undercover work, medical masks and tactical gear, and it does not apply to state police.
• Companion measures restrict immigration agents from entering schools and health facilities without a valid warrant and require schools to notify parents and teachers when agents are on campus.
• The new rules respond to recent masked raids in Los Angeles that sparked days of protests and a heightened federal security presence earlier this year.
• DHS denounced the law as “despicable,” said it sent letters to attorneys general in California, Illinois and New York, and warned it would take measures against what it called state obstruction.
• How California can enforce the prohibition on federal agents remains unclear, and a related identification bill, SB 805, has cleared the Legislature and was sent to Newsom; violations would be a misdemeanor starting as early as January 2026.