By Chris Woodward
The Center Square

A Denver City Council committee has approved a proposal to ban law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, from wearing masks.

The proposal from Councilmembers Flor Alvidrez and Shontel M. Lewis also requires all law enforcement to identify themselves with a badge or some form of identification. Violators could face fines and jail time.

Lewis told The Center Square that they began working on the bill last summer.

“We saw the terror and the fear in communities, and so it was an opportunity to proactively think about legislation that was going to protect our communities,” Lewis said.

Wednesday’s vote by the Health and Safety Committee was a unanimous 7-0.

The measure now goes to the full city council for the first of two votes before it can be finalized. If approved, the ban will take effect immediately, Lewis said.

Councilmember Chris Hinds supports the measure.

“Anyone granted the authority to use deadly force must be held to the highest standard of accountability,” Hinds told The Center Square.

That, he said, starts with transparency.

“The public has a right to know who is exercising that power,” said Hinds. “If someone cannot do the job without hiding their identity, then they should not be entrusted with the responsibility to take a human life. And when that authority is abused, there must be real consequences.”

The proposal in Denver comes at a time when many politicians and citizens in other states have been critical of federal efforts to locate and remove illegal immigrants from cities.

California, for example, has a ban on law enforcement officers wearing masks, although Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell has said that he will not enforce it, and a federal judge has issued a temporary ruling against the ban. Meanwhile, California Attorney General Rob Bonta told The Center Square Thursday that if the ban is ultimately upheld in courts, all local and state law enforcement will enforce it.

Denver police are preparing in case the ban is approved by the full city council.

“I have spoken to the police and my co-sponsor spoke to the police union, and they are in the process of working to figure out how they operationalize the policy if it goes into effect,” said Lewis.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, strongly opposes bans on masks.

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Center Square that sanctuary politicians attempting to ban federal law enforcement from wearing masks is “despicable” and a flagrant attempt to endanger officers.

“To be crystal clear: We will not abide by this unconstitutional ban,” she said, answering a question by email.

McLaughlin also said the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution makes it clear that Denver’s sanctuary politicians do not control federal law enforcement.

“Our officers wear masks to protect themselves from being doxxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers,” McLaughlin told The Center Square. “Not only is ICE law enforcement facing a more than 1,300 percent increase in assaults against them, but we’ve also seen thugs launch websites to reveal officers’ identity.”

McLaughlin ended by saying that the men and women at CBP, ICE, and all federal law enforcement agencies put their lives on the line every day to arrest violent criminal illegal aliens to protect and defend the lives of American citizens.

“Make no mistake, this type of demonization is contributing to the surge in assaults of law enforcement officers,” said McLaughlin.