The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging Philadelphia’s anti-ICE policy banning federal agents from wearing masks while on duty.
Federal lawyers said the city’s law is an unconstitutional attempt to interfere with national law enforcement operations.
The law not only prohibits federal agents and officers from masking while performing duties, it also requires use of identification so agents can be tracked, and it bans the feds from using undercover vehicles in the city.
“Today we regrettably had to sue the birthplace of this great Nation,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. “But we will not sit by while Philadelphia flagrantly violates our Constitution, seeking to criminally punish our nation’s law enforcement heroes merely for doing their job.”
The ordinance was passed by the city council despite questions from the mayor and the city’s legal division over its legality. Mayor Cherelle Parker declined to sign the bill, citing “significant legal problems.”
Justice Department lawyers said the council explicitly said its goal was to regulate “federal law enforcement operations” inside the city. That violates the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, the federal lawyers argued.
Similar anti-mask and identification laws in California have been blocked by federal judges who said they unconstitutionally interfered with national law enforcement.
New Jersey’s masking ban has also been challenged in court.
The law was part of a broader package of bills aimed at restricting local officials’ cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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