Court strikes down CA law requiring identification of immigration agents – CalMatters

This article is also available in English. Read it here.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected California’s requirement that undercover federal agents identify themselves, dealing a setback to the state’s continued resistance to the Trump administration’s deportation program.

Panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling barring California from implementing a section of the 2025 law that requires federal law enforcement officers to visibly display their identification while on duty.

The law was intended be subjected to critical scrutiny by the federal judiciary. A 1890 Supreme Court Case provides that a state may not prosecute federal law enforcement officers acting in the performance of their duties.

The law also directly ran afoul of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which states that states cannot regulate the activities of the federal government.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it into law in conjunction with a law banning federal immigration agents from wearing masks. The the Trump administration filed suit challenging both laws.

On February 19, a federal judge issued an injunction against the mask law . The new ruling, issued unanimously (3-0), focuses on the identification requirement.

“If a state law directly regulates the conduct of the United States, it is invalid regardless of whether the regulated activities are essential to federal functions or operations and regardless of the extent to which the state law interferes with federal functions or operations,” wrote Justice Mark J. Bennett.

California lawyers argued that even if the law violated the Supremacy Clause, the court also had to consider state government concerns about the effect that enforcement of federal immigration laws has on public safety.

“We refuse to do so,” Bennett wrote. “Because the United States has demonstrated a likelihood that the statute violates the Supremacy Clause, it has also shown that both the public interest and the balance of interests lean “strongly in favor” of a preliminary injunction.”

Democrats passed the law, dubbed the Vigilance Act, to rein in federal agents who appear in masks and without visible identification as they carry out the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Lawmakers are pushing more bills this year targeting the administration’s immigration agents, including proposals that they would be banned from working in California law enforcement and a measure that would make it easier for people sue federal agents for violations of civil rights.

Acting US Attorney Todd Blanche enthusiastically celebrated the Ninth Circuit’s decision on social media.

“This Department of Justice stands unwaveringly and fully behind the brave men and women of ICE who risk their lives every day to enforce our immigration laws and keep American citizens safe,” he wrote. “Today’s legal victory in the Ninth Circuit halts California’s mask ban for ICE agents and represents a major victory for law enforcement protections.”