California Mask Ban Puts Federal Agents, Families On Edge

Authored by Brad Jones via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A new California law banning federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks while on duty has left agents and their families fearing for their safety.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation into law on Sept. 20 that makes it a misdemeanor crime for local and federal law enforcement officers to wear face coverings on the job. The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2026.

The legislation, Newsom said, is about saying “enough” to federal agents, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents.

“Unmask,” he said. “What are you afraid of?”

U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli has told federal law enforcement to ignore California’s law.

Federal agents have been wearing masks to protect their identities because they and their families fear being doxxed by activists.

Doxxing a federal agent by posting their personal information on social media or other channels is a felony.

The wife of a Border Patrol agent in California called the state law “disheartening.”

“It’s already a high-risk, dangerous job,” she said, speaking to The Epoch Times on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

“I agree with the [Trump] administration that these agents should be protected,” she said.

She said agents are labeled as Nazis and their children are bullied at school.

“Being called a Nazi is heartbreaking,” she said. “It’s not true.”

Children either “go home thinking their parent is this horrible person,” or they know it’s not true but are afraid to say anything about it at school, she said.

Meanwhile, teachers and school board officials calling for the abolishment of ICE and Border Patrol on social media aren’t helping to diffuse the situation, she said.

Protesters should stop blaming agents for doing their jobs and take their grievances to the politicians who create the policies, the wife said.

“This is a policy issue. It’s not an agent issue,” she said. “They’re making it personal, and it’s not personal.

“We see how groups like Antifa or protesters are making sure that they get pictures or videos and then they’re posting them online,” she said.

“We … have to protect our children first … and living like this right now, where our own governor is against us, is very scary. It’s frightening.”

Earlier in September, Newsom downplayed concerns about doxxing, saying such claims are unfounded and unproven, and that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hasn’t provided the data to substantiate the alleged increase in violence against federal agents.

“All they have provided is misinformation and misdirection,” Newsom said.

In July, a DHS memo said assaults on federal agents were up 830 percent from last year. Two months later, DHS reported a 1,000 percent increase in assaults.

Agents have been ambushed, shot at, and attacked with rocks, glass bottles, and other objects.

In Portland, an agitator allegedly hurled an incendiary device at officers during a demonstration. In Southern California, an agent serving a criminal warrant at a marijuana grow site was sent to the hospital for stitches after being attacked by protesters. And in late September, a deadly shooting attack at a Dallas ICE facility was carried out by a gunman who engraved “Anti-ICE” on bullet casings.

California law allows protesters to wear face masks, although California Code, Section 185 makes it illegal to wear a mask to avoid being identified while violating the law.

On Sept. 26, a federal grand jury indicted three women—two from Southern California and one from Colorado—for following an ICE agent home, livestreaming their pursuit, and then posting the agent’s home address on Instagram.

The accused—Cynthia Raygoza, 37, of Riverside; Sandra Carmona Samane, 25, of Panorama City; and Ashleigh Brown, 38, of Aurora, Colorado, face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison if convicted of conspiracy and publicly disclosing the personal information of a federal agent.

On Sept. 20, before signing the masking bill into law, Newsom accused the Trump administration of using “secret police” tactics and sending “masked men” to “terrorize” immigrant communities.

“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, no rights,” he said.

“Immigrants have rights, and we have the right to stand up and push back, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Manny Bayon, National Border Patrol Council union president in San Diego, told The Epoch Times that doxxing has been a real safety threat for agents and their families.

“How do you delete from social media? You don’t,” he said. “We’ve had incidents where they’ve identified an agent, they’ve identified a wife, they’ve identified where the kids go to school—that kind of thing. So that’s concerning.”

White House border czar Tom Homan said in June that he is living separately from his family due to death threats.

“The death threats against me and my family are outrageous,” he told Fox News.

“I don’t see my family very much; my wife’s living separately from me right now … mostly because of the death threats.”

There is even less security for rank-and-file agents, Bayon said.

When doxxing is reported, it is documented, and credible threats are passed up the chain of command.

“Then we take precautionary measures for the family,” he said.

Agents Told to Ignore Law

U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli sent a memo to all federal law enforcement agency heads in the Central District of California on Sept. 26 telling them to ignore the state’s masking law.

He posted the two-page memo on X, stating Newsom is “confused” about his role under the U.S. Constitution.

“He oversees California, not federal agencies. He should review the Supremacy Clause,” Essayli wrote.

“California’s law to ‘unmask’ federal agents is unconstitutional, as the state lacks jurisdiction to interfere with federal law enforcement.

“I have directed federal agencies to disregard this state law and adhere to federal law and agency policies.”

Essayli wrote in the memo that Newsom has “made clear” the new law is “targeting federal law enforcement officers who wear masks during immigration enforcement operations in order to protect their safety and their families’ safety.”

The governor’s office did not provide a comment in response to an inquiry about Essayli’s memo, but said Newsom’s earlier statements “still stand.”

Jack Philips contributed to this report.