A federal appeals court issued an injunction Wednesday blocking California’s law requiring national law enforcement officers to wear identification tags so their activities can be tracked.
The law was intended as a strike against ICE and Border Patrol agents carrying out President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
But a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the state was trampling on federal prerogatives. And that is a violation of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause elevating national priorities over states’ whims.
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“Because Congress has not authorized such legislation, it is barred by intergovernmental immunity,” wrote Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee. He was joined by an Obama pick and another Trump choice.
The court had blocked the California ID law while it considered the matter more fully.
Wednesday’s ruling is a more lasting preliminary injunction while a lower court considers the arguments. But Judge Bennett made clear the state is “certain” to lose.
He said no plausible context would let California’s law survive a constitutional challenge.
The ID law is part of a broader strike at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The state Legislature passed, and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed, another bill that barred federal officers from wearing masks during the everyday performance of their duties.
U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder blocked that law, saying that since it targeted only the federal government, it was illegal discrimination and thus a violation of the Supremacy Clause.
But Judge Snyder had said the identification law didn’t appear to be too much of a burden on the feds, so she let it take effect.
The appeals court said Judge Snyder was applying legal standards for federal contractors, but those don’t cover the federal government itself.
Judge Bennett said California may be able to enforce some rules — such as traffic laws — against federal officers, but that’s because those are generally applicable to anyone on the roads.
Targeting federal law enforcement in particular cannot survive scrutiny, Judge Bennett concluded.
Anti-mask laws became a popular response by Democrat-led states and localities as a way to signal resistance to Mr. Trump’s migrant crackdown.
But the Justice Department has been remarkably successful in defeating the mask laws, winning injunctions from California to New York to Virginia.
The Department of Homeland Security says masks are needed to prevent officers from being doxed and threatened.
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