Gov. Newsom Signs Unlawful Immigration Bills Again, After Bills Were Overturned by Ninth Circuit

Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of 21 bills claiming they will increase state oversight of federal immigration enforcement, illegal immigrant detention facilities, and related law-enforcement practices inside California.

You read that right – Gov. Newsom is trying to impose state oversight and regulations over federal immigration enforcement. Again. It would be laughable except Newsom and Democrats know what they are doing is unlawful.

Newsom called Trump administration immigration policies “Orwellian” and “totalitarian,” for focusing on strict enforcement and removal of illegal immigrants, resulting in historically low border crossings and a significant increase in deportations. (Pot, meet kettle). The Department of Homeland Security has emphasized the importance of border security and has implemented measures to prevent illegal immigration effectively, and for that, everyone in America is safer. 

A federal judge in February 2026 struck down California’s 2025 “No Secret Police Act” mask ban because it targeted federal agents while exempting state and local officers, finding it unlawfully discriminated against federal officers.

U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli noted this Tuesday:

Governor, we’ve been through this already. If you want to regulate federal agents, you have to win a federal election. Until then, you have no jurisdiction. Accordingly, I have advised DHS to disregard your bill attempting to ban safe and effective less-lethal tools that agents need to escalate dangerous situations.

Governor, we’ve been through this already. If you want to regulate federal agents, you have to win a federal election. Until then, you have no jurisdiction.

Accordingly, I have advised DHS to disregard your bill attempting to ban safe and effective less-lethal tools that agents… https://t.co/zDqvn3j8Qx

— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) September 29, 2026

Sacramento Democrats cannot regulate, harass, or endanger federal officers carrying out lawful duties. Illegal immigrants are subject to deportation, and it is the federal government’s legal responsibility.

Ostensibly, the new legislation was written to address the February 2026 Ninth Circuit ruling. The DOJ has said that California’s illicit laws discriminate against U.S. citizens and undermine federal law. They are correct.

Gov. Newsom provides free healthcare to illegal immigrants through Medi-Cal, as the Globe has reported. As Chris Rufo recently reported, “California oversees a shadow welfare system that allows noncitizens to receive health care, rental assistance, college grants, tax credits, low-cost car insurance, and even smartphones on the taxpayers’ dime.”

Gov. Newsom is using taxpayer funds to pay for all of this, and then turns around and uses taxpayer funds to discriminate against his own citizens by trying to unlawfully chase immigration enforcement out of California.

In February 2026, the Globe reported:

In yet another humiliating defeat for Governor Gavin Newsom’s war on federal immigration enforcement, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a full stay Thursday blocking enforcement of California’s entire “No Secret Police Act” (Senate Bill 627), not just the mask ban portion targeting ICE and other federal agents.

The ruling, which cites the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, marks a complete triumph for the Trump Justice Department, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in the Central District of California. 

It reaffirms what California Globe has repeatedly documented: Sacramento Democrats cannot regulate, harass, or endanger federal officers carrying out lawful duties.

Senate Bill 627 from last year would have criminalized federal agents — particularly ICE officers conducting deportation operations — for wearing masks or facial coverings while on duty. A companion “No Vigilantes Act” (SB 805) imposed identification requirements designed to facilitate doxxing and retaliation against federal personnel and their families.

As California Globe reported, the measures were unconstitutional attempts to discriminate against and obstruct federal operations in violation of the Supremacy Clause.

Which brings us back to Gov. Newsom’s and Democrat’s latest attempt to give the finger to federal immigration law.

The newest bills Gov. Newsom signed address several areas:

• Enforcement tactics and equipment: Limits or bans shock gloves, imposes restrictions on flash-bang grenades and explosive breaching charges (including in immigration operations), and a mask/face-covering restriction for law enforcement.
• Detention facilities: public-records access for private facilities; Attorney General oversight planning; additional local planning/zoning and approval requirements for new or converted detention sites; and a 25% tax.
• State property and resources: Restrictions on using state-owned facilities for immigration staging, processing, or operations.
• Civil rights and access: A “No Kings Act” creating a path for individuals to sue federal officials over alleged constitutional violations; protections against civil immigration arrests of people traveling to or from courthouses for lawful purposes; and measures affecting CalWORKs eligibility when a household member is detained.
• Personnel and identification: Bars on ICE officers with serious on-the-job misconduct becoming California peace officers or public employees; requirements for identification on certain rental vehicles used in enforcement.

The new laws are expected to face similar legal challenges from the Department of Justice given that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility.

Newsom signing the unconstitutional laws continues his pattern of using state law, taxpayer funding, and dubious oversight tools to limit cooperation with and increase scrutiny of federal immigration actions during the second Trump administration. 

Newsom is on the wrong side of the law. But his California citizen replacement program appears to be working.

Legislation signed

• AB 1627 by Assemblymember Anamarie Ávila Farías (D-Martinez) — Public employment: disqualifications

• AB 1633 by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) — Taxation: private detention facilities

• AB 1650 by Assemblymember Jessica Caloza (D-Los Angeles) — Rental vehicles: law enforcement

• AB 1655 by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles) — CalWORKs: temporary absence: immigration detention

• AB 1801 by Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-Milpitas) — Public agencies: approval: detention facilities

• AB 1806 by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) — Department of Justice

• AB 1807 by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) — Immigration enforcement: use of state-owned property

• AB 1994 Assemblymember David Alvarez (D-San Diego) — Defending Immigrant Victims Act

• AB 2318 by Assemblymember Sade Elhawary (D-South Los Angeles) — Law enforcement: facilitating medical care

• AB 2495 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) — Unlawful immigration-related practices

• AB 2760 by Assemblymember Dr. LaShae Sharp-Collins (D-San Diego) — Law enforcement: wearable electroshock devices

• SB 420 by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) — Property tax: welfare exemption: detention facilities

• SB 423 by Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach)  — California Public Records Act: private detention facilities

• SB 747 by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) — Civil rights: deprivation of federal constitutional rights, privileges, and immunities

• SB 873 by Senator Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Colton) — Courthouses: privilege from civil arrest

• SB 937 by Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) — Law enforcement: flash-bang grenades and explosive breaching charges

• SB 942 by Senator Anna Caballero (D-Merced) — Civil detainees

• SB 957 by Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena) — Civil detention facilities

• SB 1004 by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) — Law enforcement: masks

• SB 1367 by Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) — Planning and zoning: detention facilities. View the signing message here.

• SB 1399 by Senator María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) — Locked detention facilities: civil immigration: reviews