AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Senators are scrambling to avoid a partial government shutdown today as Democrats hold out for changes to immigration enforcement. One of their demands has been an end to federal agents wearing masks. That's something that's become widespread since President Trump came back into office. For many, the face coverings have become a symbol of federal overreach, and even some states are looking into banning law enforcement, both federal and local, from wearing masks. NPR law enforcement correspondent Martin Kaste joins us now to talk about those state-level efforts. Hi, Martin.
MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: So have any states actually done this yet, like, ban federal agents from wearing masks?
KASTE: Yeah, well, one state has - California. Last fall, they passed a bill that they called the No Secret Police Act, and that bans federal and local law enforcement from wearing masks on the job with some exceptions such as masks for health reasons or, you know, tactical teams like SWAT teams. But the legislation, what it does is it makes officers civilly liable, meaning they could be sued if they wear a mask. And it also makes it a crime, a misdemeanor, for both local and federal officers. So in theory, a local cop could cite a federal agent for wearing a mask on the job.
CHANG: Wait. So legally, how is that possible? Like, could a state law be used against a federal immigration agent?
KASTE: Well, that's the big question, and that's why this California law right now is on hold. The Trump administration sued to block it. It says federal agents need masks because they're being targeted and doxed online. They argue that this ban also violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. That's the idea that the states can't contradict federal law. The counter argument to that, though, is that a state law can apply to federal agents as long as that law doesn't unreasonably interfere with federal work. I talked to the sponsor of the mask ban. His name is Scott Wiener. He's a state senator from San Francisco, and he told me that the turmoil in the Twin Cities right now has reaffirmed his sense that this is worth trying.
SCOTT WIENER: In a moment where the federal government is so out of control and engaging in such extreme overreach and violence against local communities, states play an essential role to protect people's rights.
CHANG: If states play this essential role, as he put it, are other states following California's example on this?
KASTE: Well, so far, I count at least 15 state legislatures where similar bills have been tried or introduced, states like New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and a version of this ban just passed in Washington state in the state Senate this week.
CHANG: Well, what are local police saying about potentially losing their right to wear masks?
KASTE: Well, that's been contentious. California's largest police association called the ban there an attack on cops. It says that it makes them, quote, "collateral damage in a state versus federal showdown," unquote. Things also got heated in Washington state earlier this month when an outspoken conservative sheriff named Keith Swank was testifying there, and he brought up the pending mask legislation.
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KEITH SWANK: Just for the record, my deputies don't wear masks. But once you pass this law that they can't, I will not only allow them, but I will encourage them to do so just to see what you do.
KASTE: I should add that his comments really upset some legislators who heard that as a threat.
CHANG: Well, can you talk about, like, where that reaction comes from? Like, do local police actually want the right to wear masks?
KASTE: Well, most of the cops I talked to are pretty critical of the way the feds have started wearing masks like this, but some of them are also worried about losing that option for themselves, you know, just given all the camera phones that are out there now. But I think the bigger issue for them is just how politicized all of this is, you know, that local prosecutors would have a lot of discretion about when and whether to bring charges like this against a federal agent, and that could be seen as a political statement. And when I talk to officers, they're pretty leery of being dragged into all that.
CHANG: That is NPR's Martin Kaste. Thank you, Martin.
KASTE: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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