CA Legislature Passes Sen Wiener’s Unlawful Bill to Ban Masks on ICE Agents

At the Stop Nick Shirley Act rally Wednesday, masked Antifa thugs showed up to harass the rally participants.

Senator Scott Wiener said nothing about that. But he’s thrilled that the California Legislature passed his SB 1004, which makes it possible to enforce the No Secret Police Act, the state’s ban on extreme face masking from ICE, CBP, and other law enforcement.

Ironically, these are the same people who mandated masks on everyone’s faces in California, including babies and children, during the coronavirus flu outbreak, while locking 40 million people down for 3 years.

California’s original ICE mask ban, SB 627, the “No Secret Police Act,” signed in September 2025, prohibited most local and federal officers—including ICE and CBP—from wearing face-covering masks such as ski masks while performing duties, with exceptions for undercover work, medical masks, and certain tactical gear. State officers, including CHP, were carved out.

A federal district judge in February blocked enforcement of that ban against federal agents. The court held that California has authority, in principle, to restrict masking by officers operating in the state, but the law as written unlawfully discriminated against federal officers by exempting similarly situated state officers.

Sen. Scott Wiener responded by introducing SB 1004 to add state peace officers so the ban would apply evenly to state, local, and federal officers. That was the “make it enforceable” fix the court described.

Wiener said “SB 1004 will put the mask ban in compliance with the judge’s order to end secret police masking in California. The bill heads next to the Governor, who must act on it by September 30.”

Senator Wiener, a lawyer, knows that California cannot simply order ICE to do anything. Federal officers operate under federal authority. The Supremacy Clause and the intergovernmental-immunity doctrine restrict states from regulating the federal government in a way that discriminates against it or substantially interferes with federal functions. The Justice Department has already sued, argued that states lack power to control federal agents’ operations, and stated that the federal government does not intend to comply.

“The Federal Government, not California, has authority to control its own agents and activities,” lawyers for President Donald Trump’s Justice Department wrote in a suit filed in federal court in Los Angeles. They said the two laws “would recklessly endanger the lives of federal agents and compromise the operational effectiveness of federal law enforcement activities,” the SF Chronicle reported.

The Globe reported in January 2025:

ICE agents wear masks primarily for their safety, as they face threats and harassment from the public, including doxing and death threats against their families.

But Democrats are now pushing for ICE agents and members of law enforcement to unmask themselves.

California State Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Jesse Arreguin (D-Berkeley) are the authors of SB 627, the “No Secret Police Act” to prohibit law enforcement at all levels from covering their faces while conducting operations in the state of California.

The bill also requires officers to be identifiable on their uniform.

“Secret police behavior tanks trust & must end,” Wiener said on X. “We’re seeing the rise of secret police — masked, no identifying info, even wearing army fatigues — grabbing & disappearing people. It’s antithetical to democracy & harms communities. The No Secret Police Act can help end the fear & chaos this behavior creates in communities.”

No word from Sen. Wiener on the criminal illegal aliens ICE is arresting and deporting.

In June 2025, Sen. Wiener said, “The recent federal operations in California have created an environment of profound terror. If we want the public to trust law enforcement, we cannot allow them to behave like secret police in an authoritarian state. Law enforcement officers do critically important work to keep our communities safe, and they should be proud to show their faces and provide identifying information when doing so. It boosts trust in law enforcement, which makes it easier for law enforcement to do their jobs and makes California safer for all of us.”

Right.

Here is Sen. Wiener’s statement today:

“California must use every available tool to stand up for our communities under attack from ICE’s secret police terror campaign,” said Senator Wiener. “We have clear guidance from a federal judge for how to move forward with our face mask ban, and SB 1004 takes those important steps.”

The game being played by Senator Wiener is while the Legislature can pass a broader, even-handed mask rule and claim it now satisfies the discrimination problem the judge identified, it cannot compel ICE to obey it.

States cannot dictate federal law enforcement uniforms, and have no jurisdiction over what federal law enforcement does.

Why do Democrats play these games and waste everyone’s time?