By suzanne downing 
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 627, the “No Secret Police Act,” making California the first state in the nation to prohibit most law enforcement officers from concealing their identities with masks during official operations. The measure takes effect Jan. 1 and violations will be classified as misdemeanors.
The new law applies broadly to local police, sheriffs, and even federal agents such as those from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Introduced in June by Democratic state Senators Scott Wiener of San Francisco and Jesse Arreguin of Berkeley, the legislation was crafted as a direct rebuke of President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement, which has featured high-profile raids in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods of Los Angeles and other California cities. Agents have often arrived in unmarked vehicles and concealed their faces with balaclavas, gaiters, or ski masks, practices that criminal advocates denounce as “secret police” tactics. The masks prevent the criminals from going after the officers and their families.
At the bill’s signing at a Los Angeles high school, Newsom said the measure was about state sovereignty and immigrant rights. “Unmarked cars, people in masks, people quite literally disappearing. No due process, no rights… Immigrants have rights, and we have the right to stand up and push back,” he said.
The event was attended by lawmakers, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and immigrant advocacy groups. The law was part of a broader package of immigration-focused legislation, which also requires officers to display badge numbers, restricts federal access to schools and hospitals without warrants, and mandates parent notification if ICE agents enter school campuses.
The law passed California’s Democratic-controlled Legislature earlier this month despite opposition from Republican lawmakers, police unions, and the Trump Administration. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a 2026 gubernatorial candidate, warned that the ban will endanger officers by exposing them to harassment and retaliation. Federal officials have already signaled resistance: acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli called the measure unenforceable against federal agents, while DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin labeled it “despicable.”
Legal experts maintain that California has authority over local officers, but any attempt to apply the law to federal agents is likely to trigger court challenges, possibly reaching the Supreme Court.
The ban represents a striking reversal from California’s pandemic-era policies. From 2020 through 2023, Newsom enforced some of the strictest Covid mask mandates in the country. Californians were required to wear face coverings in schools, businesses, and many outdoor settings, with police themselves compelled to enforce and follow the rules.
During that period, individuals were fined or arrested for violating mask and lockdown mandates, including people cited for sitting on beaches or surfing without face coverings. Businesses faced closures for non-compliance, and law enforcement was tasked with upholding public masking requirements.
In 2020, armed robberies in California and elsewhere spiked as criminals wore masks that were actually required by law; this practice has persisted even five years later, as criminals exploit the social acceptance of face masks that was created by law back in 2020. The mask mandates were the perfect opportunity for criminals, as wearing masks in public no longer raised suspicion.
Now, under SB 627, officers who wear masks in the line of duty are the criminals, a direct inversion of the Covid era when failing to wear a mask brought legal consequences.
Suzanne Downing