Men dressed in street clothes, masks, no visible identification and claiming to be I.C.E. officers are snatching individuals they claim are in the country illegally off the streets, college campuses and at various other locations across the country. A recently introduced bill in the state legislature will require these officers to be identifiable when executing operations in the state of California.
Men dressed in street clothes, masks, no visible identification and claiming to be I.C.E. officers are snatching individuals they claim are in the country illegally off the streets, college campuses and at various other locations across the country. A recently introduced bill in the state legislature will require these officers to be identifiable when executing operations in the state of California. (Graphic by Chris Allen, Black Voice News)

Alyssah Hall

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CA Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Jesse Arreguin (D-Berkeley) introduced Senate Bill 627, the No Secret Police Act on June 16, a bill prohibiting all levels of law enforcement from covering their faces while conducting operations in California. This bill would require officers to be identifiable by their uniform with their name or another identifier.

The Trump administration enforced anti-immigrant and militant ICE practices with the deployment of Marines and National Guard troops to Los Angeles. Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s protests, Trump deployed the guard in response to protests sparked by immigration raids on June 6. Following this, President Trump held a military parade celebrating the Army’s 250th anniversary on his birthday, June 14. These events  inspired the “No Kings” protests the same day.

The Trump administration has also been under fire for expanding the use of secret police tactics. SB 627 hopes to support public safety and increase transparency by bringing back public trust in law enforcement. The bill would require officers to be identifiable by their uniform with a name or other identifier. If approved and signed into law, the bill would not apply to SWAT teams or medical grade masks and masks designed to protect against emergency situations like wildfire smoke.

“The recent federal operations in California have created an environment of profound terror. If we want the public to trust law enforcement, we cannot allow them to behave like secret police in an authoritarian state,” Wiener declared in a press release.

“Our first responders are responsible for vital work in protecting our communities, and trust and accountability are key aspects in keeping our neighborhoods safe,” stated Arreguín via press release.  “This bill will ensure that law enforcement are easily identifiable, maintaining that trust and accountability.”

Federal law enforcement officers have organized raids in California while covering their faces and sometimes their badges, names, and other identifying information. There also have been dozens of reports of ICE arresting people across public businesses including Home Depot and Northgate Market, a Mexican family-owned supermarket chain, leading to the detention of multiple individuals.

“In some operations in other states, federal law enforcement have appeared masked to grab residents off the street and whisk them away to detention centers across state lines without contacting their families or loved ones. University students, workers, and others have been grabbed off the street, sent to detention centers, and even been sent to a gulag in El Salvador,” according to the press release.

The No Secret Police Act highlights that these actions reveal an omission in state law, “That law enforcement should generally be identifying themselves and not hiding their identities.” Because the Trump administration is encouraging state and local law enforcement to aid in the enforcement of immigration laws, SB 627 wants California to end this omission for all levels of law enforcement. The use of face coverings by “secret police” has allegedly also led to fraudulent individuals pretending to be law enforcement, which the bill intends to put an end to.

“Who are these people?” Bass asked during a news conference held on June 20. “We’re not sure who these armed men are. They show up without uniforms, they show up completely masked. They refuse to give ID, they’re driving regular cars with tinted windows and in some cases, out of state license plates.”
Pasadena lawmakers have also introduced a similar act earlier this week. State Senator Sasha Renee Perez  (D-Pasadena) introduced the “No Vigilantes Act,” which would require federal law enforcement agents to better identify themselves after immigration raids occurred throughout the city over the weekend.

“We have seen law enforcement operations being conducted in the name of immigration enforcement, but their appearance, tactics and behavior do not look like normal law enforcement practices,” Pérez said in a statement. “We’ve seen guns pulled on civilians, and people snatched off the streets and in workplaces by masked people in civilian clothing and unmarked cars. This creates tremendous confusion, fear, and mistrust in communities across the state. We need to protect our residents and that means knowing who is actually conducting law enforcement operations on our streets.”

Alyssah Hall is a multimedia journalist with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Cal State University Los Angeles. She joins Black Voice News as a UC Berkeley California Local News 2024-2026 Fellow. Born in SoCal and raised in Lynchburg, Virginia, Alyssah experienced what it was like to feel unrepresented and misunderstood. This upbringing inspired her passion for highlighting and uplifting the Black community and other minorities. Before working with BVN, Alyssah was a reporter for CSULA’s University Times and a freelance writer for the LA Sentinel. You can reach Alyssah for tips, comments or concerns at alyssah@voicemediaventures.com or via Instagram @alyssahhallbvn.