Two California state lawmakers announced a proposed law on June 16 that would prohibit law enforcement officers from wearing masks in public, following riots sparked by immigration actions in Los Angeles.
The “No Secret Police Act” was planned in response to an increase in federal immigration deportation operations in California’s larger cities, including Los Angeles, according to Democratic state Sens. Scott Wiener of San Francisco and Jesse Arreguín of Berkeley.
“This is a very important and timely proposal to deal with the fact that we’re seeing more and more law enforcement officers—particularly at the federal level—in our community covering their faces entirely, not identifying themselves at all, at times even wearing Army fatigues,” Wiener said during a news conference on June 16. “You can’t tell if these are law enforcement officers or a vigilante militia.
“Now is the time for California to act and to protect our communities. We do not need secret police in California.”
The bill—Senate Bill 627—would require all local, county, state, and federal law enforcement to remove any face coverings in public, with some exceptions that include SWAT teams, medical masking, and natural disaster responses.
A second component of the proposed legislation would require all law enforcement members operating in the state to wear identifiable features on their uniforms, such as names or badge numbers.
Wiener alleged that law enforcement organizations were considering bringing in private military contractors to help with immigration enforcement. These groups would also be subject to the law’s provisions, he said.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, called Wiener’s description of federal officers as “secret police” despicable and said it contributed to an escalation of violence against them.
“While [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers are being assaulted by rioters and having rocks and Molotov cocktails thrown at them, a sanctuary politician is trying to outlaw officers wearing masks to protect themselves from being doxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers,” McLaughlin told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement on June 16.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are facing a more than 400 percent increase in assaults, and some officers have been doxed by having their identities posted online, she said.
“We will prosecute those who dox ICE agents to the fullest extent of the law,” McLaughlin said. “The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line every day to arrest violent criminal illegal aliens to protect and defend the lives of American citizens.”
Police officers block a road leading to a federal facility in downtown Los Angeles on June 9, 2025. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
On June 15, President Donald Trump directed ICE officers to expand efforts to detain and deport illegal immigrants in the country.
Trump deployed the California National Guard on June 7 to Los Angeles to surround and protect federal facilities and federal officers after several nights of anti-immigration enforcement rioting erupted in the downtown area. He later deployed U.S. Marines.
Arreguín, co-author of the bill, said it was a “very difficult time” in California.
“People are afraid; families are being torn apart,” he said during the June 16 news conference. “It’s important that anyone who is engaged in law enforcement activity—whether state, county, or whether it’s federal—that there’s full transparency in terms of what’s happening.”
Wiener’s office did not immediately return requests for comment about the proposed legislation.
