California tried to play constitutional chicken with the federal government, and this week a federal judge reminded Sacramento that Washington still outranks it. A federal judge in Los Angeles slapped a preliminary injunction on California’s so called No Secret Police Act, a law that attempted to ban federal immigration agents from wearing masks during enforcement operations. The law was marketed as a feel good transparency measure. In reality, it was a targeted swipe at federal immigration enforcement, and the court saw right through it.
U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder, appointed by President Bill Clinton, ruled that Senate Bill 627 violates the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause. Her reasoning was refreshingly direct. The law exempted state and local officers while singling out federal agents, particularly ICE and CBP. That kind of selective treatment is not clever lawmaking, it is discrimination. As Snyder wrote, the statute “unlawfully discriminates against federal officers” and fails to apply equally to all law enforcement operating in California.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill last September, insisting it would stop “secret police” tactics and promote accountability. The problem was obvious from the start. California lawmakers were not worried about secret police. They were angry about immigration enforcement and decided to make federal agents easier targets. Masks are not fashion statements. Agents use them to avoid being identified, doxed, and harassed by activist mobs who have proven more than willing to take things from protest to violence.
The Trump administration filed suit in November 2025, arguing the law interfered with federal operations and endangered officers. The numbers back that up. DHS data shows ICE officers faced 68 vehicular attacks between January 21, 2025 and January 24, 2026, a 3,300 percent increase over the same period the previous year. CBP reported 114 such attacks, up 124 percent. Assaults on ICE officers jumped 1,347 percent, and death threats skyrocketed by an eye popping 8,000 percent. This is not hypothetical risk, it is documented reality.
Judge Snyder acknowledged that federal agents could technically do their jobs without masks. But that was not the point. The fatal flaw was California’s decision to let its own officers cover their faces while telling federal agents they could not. The Constitution does not allow states to play favorites when federal authority is involved.
Trump administration officials welcomed the ruling. Attorney General Pam Bondi put it bluntly, saying, “Law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe, and they do not deserve to be doxed or harassed simply for carrying out their duties. California’s anti law enforcement policies discriminate against the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents.”
The judge did uphold a companion measure, the No Vigilantes Act, which requires clear identification like badges and agency numbers. That law applies more evenly and survived scrutiny. Meanwhile, State Senator Scott Wiener has already floated revising the mask ban to include state officers too. Translation, California may double down instead of backing off.
This ruling is a reminder that ideology does not override the Constitution, and that federal agents enforcing federal law are not props in Sacramento’s political theater.
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