LAPD chief defies Newsom’s mask ban for federal immigration agents citing safety concerns

The Los Angeles Police Department won’t enforce a California directive banning federal immigration agents from wearing masks or hiding their faces while conducting operations in the state. 

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell told Fox Los Angeles’ “Good Day LA” that his department will not enforce the directive from California Gov. Newsom.

From a tactical perspective, having officers cite federal authorities for what amounts to a misdemeanor could be unsafe, he said.

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“From a practical standpoint, our role when we get to a scene is to de-escalate the situation, not to ramp it up,” McDonnell said. “Trying to enforce a misdemeanor violation on another law enforcement agency, that’s not going to end well. And that’s not going to be good.” 

“From a public safety standpoint for anybody in that environment. Potentially you have a crowd that could be agitated and trying to get their point across,” he added. “And then you have the ICE agents who are doing their job. And for us to come in then and try and create an enforcement action for wearing a mask, it’s not a safe way to do business.”  

In September 2025, Newsom signed a bill into law banning law enforcement from wearing face coverings while conducting official business across the state. 

The bill makes it a misdemeanor crime for local, state or federal law enforcement to wear masks or personal disguises during their duties, unless an officer is undercover or performing a tactical operation that requires protective gear.

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“What are you afraid of?” Newsom said as he signed the legislation into law. 

The Trump administration has sued over the law. 

“The federal government has sued to stop the state from enforcing this law,” a spokesperson for Newsom’s office told Fox News Digital. “We are defending the law in court which would go in effect on July 1.”

Critics of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration have cited masked ICE agents as a public safety risk, accusing them of trying to shield their identities from being leaked. 

Authorities said ICE agents have masked up to avoid doxxing and threats to them and their families from the public.

The ban came after a series of immigration raids in and around Los Angeles, where federal agents were spotted wearing masks. At the time, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said federal agents are already required to identify themselves and wear clothing that designates they are with ICE or Homeland Security markers during operations.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. 

Bass criticized ICE’s mask policy following raids in Los Angeles last summer. 

“When the raids started, fear spread,” Bass said in an interview last year with ABC News. “The masked men in unmarked cars, no license plate, no real uniforms, jumping out of cars with rifles and snatching people off the street, leading a lot of people to think maybe kidnappings were taking place.”