A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a California law passed in 2025 requiring federal immigration agents to wear a badge or some form of identification, reports Associated Press.
The Trump administration filed a lawsuit in November challenging the law, arguing that it would threaten the safety of officers who are facing harassment, doxing and violence and that it violated the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution because the state is directly regulating the federal government.
Ira Mehlman is media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
"This is a federal supremacy issue. Federal government does have plenary authority over immigration enforcement, and Gov. Newsom and the California legislature are free to disagree with it,” states Mehlman. “They are free, like any other citizens, to lobby to have laws changed, but they cannot dictate when, where and how federal law enforcement officers do their jobs."
Mehlman says the concealing of ICE agents identities is about self-protection. In July 2025, the Department of Homeland Security reported that there is a 700% increase of assaults against ICE officers as doxxing websites revealed the identity of ICE officers and their families.
"The reason why they are concealing their identities in many cases is because there has been a very, very sharp uptick in assaults against these officers, threats against them and their families, and they have a valid reason for needing to protect their identities, even if the leadership in California doesn't particularly like it," state Mehlman.
AFN reported previously on a church in Minnesota that was disrupted by ICE protesters because the pastor lead the local ICE field office.
The initial lawsuit also addressed another California measure signed into law last year that would have banned most law enforcement officers from wearing masks, neck gaiters and other facial coverings. It was blocked by a federal judge in February.
