U.S. Department of Homeland Security

09/16/2025 | News release | Distributed by Public on 09/16/2025 15:12

DHS Calls for Governor Newsom to Veto California’s 'No Secret Police' Act

Attacks and demonization of our brave law enforcement are contributing to our officers facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them

WASHINGTON - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) calls on Governor Gavin Newsom to veto the "No Secret Police Act," which bans law enforcement officers from wearing protective face coverings to conceal their identities. Forcing officers to show their full faces puts them and their families at risk of being doxed and targeted by vicious criminals, including gang members, terrorists, cartel members, and murderers.

"Sen. Scott Wiener's legislation banning our federal law enforcement from wearing masks and his rhetoric comparing them to 'secret police'-likening them to the Gestapo-is despicable. We urge Governor Newsom to condemn this rhetoric and veto this bill. Our federal law enforcement officers face a 1000% increase in assaults against them, unprecedented online doxing, and are having cars used as weapons against them. Once again sanctuary politicians are trying to outlaw officers wearing masks to protect themselves from being doxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers," said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. "The men and women at CBP, ICE, and all of our federal law enforcement agencies put their lives on the line every day to arrest violent criminal illegal aliens to protect and defend the lives of American citizens."

When our heroic law enforcement officers conduct operations, they clearly identify themselves as law enforcement while wearing masks to protect themselves from being targeted by highly sophisticated gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13, criminal rings, murderers, and rapists. Our officers also wear vests marked with ICE/ERO or Homeland Security and are flanked by vehicles marked with the name of the department.

Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, DHS stands shoulder-to-shoulder with officers in California and across the nation in the tireless fight to reverse the dangerous effects of illegal immigration on our country and make America safe again.

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U.S. Department of Homeland Security published this content on September 16, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 16, 2025 at 21:13 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]