A federal judge has shot down state Senator Scott Wiener’s ban on ICE agents wearing masks, because of wonky new amendments that Wiener and Governor Newsom added to it, constituting a classic Democratic political screw-up.
Since he is in a competitive race for Nancy Pelosi's seat in Congress, state Senator Scott Wiener can use every political win he can get. And he sure seemed to have one when his statewide ban on ICE agents wearing masks passed the legislature, then ICE’s reputation took a national nosedive, and Wiener’s bill looked so appealing that even Governor Gavin Newsom was trying to take credit for it.
“Masked men jumping out of unmarked cars, people disappearing, no due process, no oversight, zero accountability, happening in the United States of America today,” Newsom said recently on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. “These are authoritarian actions by an authoritarian government.”
But the Chronicle reports that a federal judge blocked Winer’s bill on Monday. And on a sad-slash-hilarious note, the judge had no objection to the mask ban, but only struck the law down because Newsom and Wiener added an amendment after the fact that exempted California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers from the rule, which the judge declared inconsistent and just threw the whole law out.
Unreal. Gavin Newsom made CA legislators water down the ICE mask ban bill. He went around touting that he was proud to sign it.
— Jackie Fielder (@JackieFielder_) February 10, 2026
A court just struck it DOWN *because* of Newsom’s changes to the bill.
Unreal corporate Democrat self-own. This guy cannot be our next President.
SF Supervisor Jackie Fielder chimed in that this was an “unreal corporate Democrat self-own." The Chronicle adds that "In the wake of the ruling, both Newsom and Sen. Scott Wiener, the San Francisco Democrat who wrote the law, suggested the other was at fault.”
A federal judge just ruled CA can ban ICE from wearing masks. The court also ruled the law must include state police, not just federal & local.
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) February 10, 2026
Today I introduced SB 1004 to add state police back so that we can enforce CA’s mask ban against ICE, CBP, and all law enforcement. pic.twitter.com/7FiwOjTrsH
For his part, Wiener says he’s rewriting the law and giving it another shot with a new version that no longer exempts CHP and other state officers.
Meanwhile, Newsom told the press today that he wouldn't sign that bill if Wiener resubmitted it with that CHP exemption removed. “Based on the court’s decision, I think we should move in the opposite direction,” Newsom said at a press conference, according to the Chronicle. “We should have a federal mask ban.”
However this shakes down, this is not a chapter that makes either of these California politicians look ready for the US House of Representatives, and certainty not for the Presidency of the United States.
Image: NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 21: Federal agents patrol the halls of immigration court at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on July 21, 2025 in New York City. Lawmakers in New York are introducing a bill that would ban law enforcement officers, including federal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, from wearing masks. The bill, sponsored by Assemblymember Tony Simone, would be called the Mandating End of Lawless Tactics (MELT) Act. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
