Federal immigration agents and other law enforcement officials will be banned from covering their faces under a new bill in California.
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AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
A news coming out of California yesterday has national implications.
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GAVIN NEWSOM: I’ll be signing a bill – the first in the nation – saying enough. To ICE, unmask. What are you afraid of?
RASCOE: Yesterday, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning law enforcement officials from wearing masks that hide their identities, including ICE agents. The law is almost certain to be challenged in court. Los Angeles, where the bill was signed, has been at the center of President Trump’s mass deportation program and, in response, mass protests. Newsom has accused masked agents of not providing any identification during these raids.
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NEWSOM: Hidden from accountability, any transparency, any oversight. That’s Trump’s America.
RASCOE: ICE did not respond to NPR’s request for comment on the new bill. But in the past, the agency has said its officers wear masks to prevent them from being identified in photos and videos. Earlier this summer, President Trump defended the use of masks during raids.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: If you expose them because of, you know, statements like have been made by Democrats and others on the left, you put them in great danger.
RASCOE: The ban will only apply to federal and local law enforcement.
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