Newsom signs five bills into law to shield Californians from immigration onslaught

“Our state is now the first in the nation to draw a clear line between legitimate law enforcement and secret police tactics,” said Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of Prosecutors Alliance Action, which endorsed the bill. “This is a victory for transparency, accountability, and community trust.”

The five bills that were signed included measures to ban law enforcement at all levels of government from wearing certain types of masks and require officers and agents to clearly display their agency’s name and their own names or badge numbers.

The prohibition on masks would allow the victim of law enforcement battery, assault, false imprisonment, false arrest, or abuse of process to seek damages in civil court and expose the officer to criminal prosecution.

Other measures are designed to protect schools from being targeted by immigration enforcement, prohibit sharing health data with federal immigration authorities, and establish a notification system for parents if immigration authorities are present on university or K-12 school grounds.

The laws may set up a legal battle between the state and federal government, which have already clashed on issues such as data sharing, sanctuary policies that prohibit local law enforcement from participating in immigration enforcement, and the deployment of the California National Guard over Newsom’s objections.

The law against masks, Senate Bill 627, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, will not be pre-emptively or actively enforced. But it could make an individual liable for misdemeanor or civil prosecution if they are also found to have battered, assaulted, falsely arrested or otherwise abused a legal process while performing their duties. It would also make supervisors liable for knowingly allowing an officer to wear such a mask.

Law enforcement agencies in the state will be required to create written policies reflecting the new law by July 2026.

There were exemptions for officers working undercover or performing SWAT duties, and motorcycle officers. Masks will also be permitted when worn with eye protection, as will respiratory gear such as gas masks, N95 or surgical masks, weather protection and opaque coverings when no “reasonable alternative” is available.

Despite the limitations, the law was hailed as a way to curb the excesses by federal agents being reported across the state, and as a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has given federal authorities the green light to conduct indiscriminate roaming patrols of public places while a court challenge against the practice continues.

“No one wants masked officers roaming their communities and kidnapping people with impunity,” Wiener said in a statement. “As this authoritarian regime expands its reach into every aspect of daily life — including terrorizing people where they work, where they live, where they go to school, where they shop, where they seek health care — California will continue to stand for the rule of law and for basic freedoms.”

Other legislation signed by the governor included a companion bill, Senate Bill 805, that requires law enforcement officers and agents to clearly identify themselves with their name or badge number, along with the agency they work for.

Another law enacted, Senate Bill 98, created a warning system to alert parents or guardians about the presence of immigration authorities on school campuses, similar to other campus emergency alerts.

Two other laws were designed to enhance protections at schools and medical facilities by requiring judicial warrants and other prerequisites before federal agents can conduct operations on those grounds.

Senate Bill 49 outlined procedures for school administrators and staff to take before allowing enforcement operations, including verifying a warrant, and restricting access to areas where children are present.

Senate Bill 81, authored by state Sen. Jesse Arreguin, D-Berkeley, similarly outlines steps for healthcare staff to take, as well as establish non-public waiting rooms and spaces in medical facilities. It also clarifies that immigration data collected by healthcare professionals is protected medical information.

Speaking in Los Angeles at a signing event with several state and local political leaders, Newsom said, “the impact of these policies all across this city, our state and nation, are terrifying. It’s like a dystopian sci-fi movie. Unmarked cars. People in masks. People quite literally disappearing, no due process,” he said.

“No rights — no rights in a democracy where we have rights. Immigrants have rights. And we have the right to push back, and that is what we are doing here today,” Newsom said.