SACRAMENTO, California — Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed five bills aimed at protecting the state’s large immigrant population from President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda — including a ban on face coverings for federal agents.
California’s new laws will shield immigrants’ health care information, notify families of federal agents’ presence at schools and require officers to identify themselves. Several of the proposals came in response to an immigration crackdown that rattled Los Angeles this summer.
The governor returned to this epicenter of Trump’s deportation raids to sign the legislation, a rebuke of the president’s aggressive immigration sweeps in a state where more than a quarter of residents — 10.6 million Californians — are foreign born.
“What are you afraid of?” Newsom asked of federal agents during the event. “You’re going to go out and you’re going to do enforcement — provide an ID. Tell us which agency you represent. Provide us basic information that all local law enforcement is required to provide.”
In early June, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers arrived en masse to Southern California and began arresting people at Home Depot parking lots, car washes, garment factories and other immigrant-heavy locations.
Los Angeles-area demonstrations in response prompted Trump to deploy the National Guard against Newsom’s wishes, a move that’s still being debated in federal court. The raids slowed in July after a federal judge ordered a halt to the “roving patrols” and other aspects of the Southern California immigration operation she said were unconstitutional, though the Supreme Court lifted those restrictions early this month.
“All of this legislative resistance is to protect Angelenos from our own federal government,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said at the bill-signing. “That is profound.”
In the aftermath, California’s legislative Latino and Asian American and Pacific Islander caucuses led lawmakers’ efforts to move the immigration bills through the Capitol.
Legislation making it harder for federal agents to get access to California schools and health care facilities had a fairly smooth path to Newsom’s desk. But a bill banning certain face coverings for law enforcement drew more controversy, including from local police, who are included in the legislation.
But just days ago, the Department of Homeland Security snapped the bill’s original purpose back into focus by urging Newsom — a likely 2028 presidential contender who relishes a fight with the Trump administration — not to sign the legislation, saying it “puts [federal agents] and their families at risk of being doxed and targeted by vicious criminals.”
The governor ultimately signed that bill, and companion legislation requiring officers to wear badges or name tags identifying themselves, which supporters argued was crucial to help the public distinguish between legitimate officers and impersonators.
The ID bill — along with the legislation dealing with educational and health care facilities — won support from two-thirds of lawmakers in both houses and will take effect immediately.
The governor, himself, had publicly questioned whether the state has the legal authority to impose a ban on masks worn by federal officers. But on Saturday, Newsom said federal agents don’t enjoy blanket immunity from state laws, as long as the state doesn’t interfere with federal operations.
“Federal operations have been conducted for decades and decades without masks,” he added. “It’s never been necessary. It’s a new construct conceived to terrorize our diverse communities, to instill fear and chaos.”
He acknowledged the likely legal challenge ahead, however, saying, “We’re going to test the theory.”
The governor’s press office X account, which has gained notoriety for its provocative, Trump-mocking posts, drew swift blowback from federal officials for its preview of the event, which referenced the DHS secretary: “Kristi Noem is going to have a bad day today.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli responded that he had requested a threat assessment from the Secret Service. “We have zero tolerance for direct or implicit threats against government officials,” he wrote.
Asked Saturday what his office meant with the “bad day” post, Newsom said the bills he signed “run in complete contrast to what [Noem’s] asserting and what she’s pushing.”
