California prohibits law enforcement officers, including immigration officers, from wearing masks during their operations

New York.- California (USA) Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law this Saturday a bill that prohibits Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from concealing their identity, with the goal of combating the “fear and terror” caused by raids in the state, which will come into effect in January. Newsom traveled to Los Angeles, the symbolic city of indiscriminate ICE raids, to sign a legislative package that includes the so-called “Secret Police Act” and other measures that limit immigration agents’ access to schools and hospitals. In a statement, Newsom’s office highlighted that this is the first U.S. law to ban undercover ICE agents, and the politician himself accompanied his signature with a note attacking President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. “The U.S. should never be a country where a masked ‘secret police’ grabs people off the streets and throws them into unmarked vans and drives away,” says the Democratic politician, who claims that citizens “must know that they are interacting with legitimate agents.”

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In that sense, another of the laws, which went into effect immediately, says that immigration and law enforcement agents must display their name or badge number in the state of California, and they will not be able to wear a mask “except if it is absolutely necessary”. The measures also imply that ICE agents will need a court order to access school classrooms, where families will be notified if there is a raid, and hospital emergency rooms, and also protect the information of students and patients.

Since this summer, numerous ICE agents deployed in the Trump administration’s arrest and deportation campaign have not identified themselves during their operations, which has sparked criticism of ethical and legal procedures by migrant organizations.