(AURN News) — A federal appeals court has blocked California from requiring nonuniformed federal agents to display identification, months after a separate judge blocked the state’s ban on agents wearing masks.
The three-judge panel unanimously ruled that California’s identification requirement likely violates the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause because it directly regulates federal law enforcement operations.
That means someone stopped or detained by a masked ICE agent may never see the agent’s face or have access to their name or badge number at the scene. If something goes wrong, that can leave people without a name or badge number to include in a complaint or provide to a lawyer.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has said that deploying masked, unidentified immigration agents falls well outside normal law enforcement practices.
Critics say the court never seriously weighed public safety. California enacted both laws in September 2025 following raids by masked federal immigration agents in Los Angeles.
In February, a federal judge found that agents could perform their duties without masks but blocked California’s ban because it exempted state law enforcement officers.
