Overview

• Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a five-bill package aimed at curbing aggressive immigration enforcement tactics, highlighted by SB 627 banning most face coverings for officers on duty.
• The ban covers ski masks and neck gaiters with exceptions for undercover work, medical masks or tactical gear, excludes state police, and violations can be charged as a misdemeanor.
• SB 805 now requires officers operating in California to display a name or badge number, and companion laws restrict immigration access to nonpublic areas of schools and hospitals without a judicial warrant and mandate school notifications.
• Most measures take effect immediately, while the mask ban begins Jan. 1, 2026, leaving short‑term operations unchanged.
• The Department of Homeland Security condemned the laws, warned it would pursue “appropriate measures,” and legal experts anticipate supremacy clause challenges that could block enforcement against federal agents.