Los Angeles police chief declines to enforce ICE mask ban

By Chris Woodward
The Center Square

California has a new law that prohibits law enforcement from wearing masks, but don’t expect it to be enforced in Los Angeles. At least not when it comes to federal immigration officers.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said enforcement of Senate Bill 627 would endanger officer safety. McDonnell, who decided against enforcing the ban, added that the Los Angeles Police Department is not the mask police for federal agents.“The reality of one armed agency approaching another armed agency to create conflict over something that would be a misdemeanor at best or an infraction, it doesn’t make any sense,” McDonnell said at a recent news conference. “It’s not a good public policy decision, and it wasn’t well thought out.”Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 627 into law in September. At the time, the Democratic governor told lawmakers that “America should never be a country where masked ‘secret police’ grab people off the streets and throw them into unmarked vans and speed away.”Newsom went on to say that “Californians must know that they are interacting with legitimate law enforcement officers, rather than masked vigilantes.”State Sens. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and Jesse Arreguin, D-Berkeley, introduced SB 627, also known as the No Secret Police Act.In their 2025 joint press release, Wiener said federal operations in California have “created an environment of profound terror.” As a result, Wiener said, SB 627 was necessary to maintain public trust.“Law enforcement officers do critically important work to keep our communities safe, and they should be proud to show their faces and provide identifying information when doing so,” Wiener said. “It boosts trust in law enforcement, which makes it easier for law enforcement to do their jobs and makes California safer for all of us.”Arreguin agreed, adding that first responders are responsible for vital work that protects communities, but trust and accountability are also key to keeping neighborhoods safe.“This bill will ensure that law enforcement are easily identifiable, maintaining that trust and accountability,” said Arreguin.Wiener and Arreguin did not respond to The Center Square’s request for additional comments.The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, based in Los Angeles, said it is “deeply troubled” by McDonnell’s comments. Jeannette Zanipatin, CHIRLA director of policy, told The Center Square the department’s position signals acquiescence rather than leadership.“Allowing armed officers to operate anonymously undermines public safety, erodes trust, and contradicts California law designed to prevent secret policing. Immigrant communities already live with fear,” said Zanipatin. “Leadership now requires you to affirm that no law enforcement agency is above accountability and that the LAPD will stand for transparency, civilian oversight, and the rule of law.”Other people are falling on the side of Chief McDonnell.Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said it is not the place of local law enforcement to tell federal law enforcement officers how they can dress.“And we have to look at this in the context of what has been going on,” Mehlman told The Center Square. “Over the past year or so, there has been a 1,300% increase in assaults against ICE officers, and there has been doxxing of these officers that has resulted in harassment of family members, so there is a good reason to protect the identities of these law enforcement officers.”Regardless of how local officials and state legislators feel about immigration enforcement, no officers should be put in danger, Mehlman said.The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will not comply with Gov. Newsom’s “unconstitutional ban,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Center Square in September. In November, the U.S. Department of Justice sued California to block the ban.