Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Saturday in Los Angeles that aims to stem the ongoing illegal immigration crackdown in Southern California.
Newsom appeared with a large group of state and local officials at the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex in downtown LA to sign a package of bills that include a ban on law enforcement agents wearing masks, requiring federal agents to visibly display identification and prohibiting “bail fugitive recovery agents,” or bounty hunters from participating in immigration enforcement activity.
Another new law requires schools and colleges to notify parents, students and staff when confirmed immigration enforcement is occurring on campus. Another law requires law enforcement officers to obtain a judicial warrant and meet other obligations before entering an education facility. The newly signed bill also prohibits school officials from collecting immigration information and disclosing pupil or family information to immigration authorities without a court order or warrant.
A fifth signed bill restricts health care facilities from giving patient information or allowing access to immigration enforcement.
Joining Newsom for the signing event Saturday were Mayor Karen Bass, LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis, LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach, and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
“Public safety depends on trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve — but Trump and Miller have shattered that trust and spread fear across America,” Newsom said in a statement. “California is putting an end to it and making sure schools and hospitals remain what they should be: places of care, not chaos.”
During remarks Saturday, the governor said Los Angeles is “the most diverse city in the most diverse state, California, in the world’s most diverse democracy. It is a point of pride. … At our best we don’t tolerate that diversity, at our best we celebrate that diversity,” Newsom said.
The governor added that California’s diverse population is “unique” and is “what makes California great. It’s what makes America great, and it’s under assault by this administration,” he said. “There’s a word that you’ve never heard uttered from the president of the United States’ lips, and certainly not (White House Deputy Chief of Staff) Stephen Miller, and that’s pluralism. We practice pluralism. It’s a deep point of pride. Those values are under assault, to a degree we could have never imagined.”
Miller has been a key driver of Trump immigration policies.
“The fact that we need bills to protect people’s rights of privacy from information sharing, masking of federal agents — if they are federal agents — protecting kids so that they can come to school … all of this legislative resistance is to protect Angelenos from our own federal government,” Bass said. “That is profound. …
“But what I’m so proud of in our city is that and we have legislative resistance, we have resistance from local government and state government, and we have resistance on the streets,” the mayor added.
SoCal-based U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said state law does not apply to federal agents.
“The State of California has no jurisdiction over the federal government,” he said in an X post. “If Newsom wants to regulate our agents, he must go through Congress. I’ve directed our federal agencies that the law signed today has no effect on our operations. Our agents will continue to protect their identities.”
Carvalho said the LAUSD has taken prepared for immigration enforcement affecting students. The district has provided information on how to deal with questioning by immigration enforcement agents and establishing zones for safe passage to and from campuses.
“There are no sidewalks for immigrant children and sidewalks for everybody else,” the superintendent said. “Everybody walks the same sidewalk of hope and opportunity to our school.”
California Democrats have condemned the Trump administration’s heightened immigration enforcement activity, which began in the Los Angeles area June 6. Local and state officials have accused federal agents of targeting people based on their race, and of detaining people without due process. They also say the raids have failed to live up to the administration’s promise to target those undocumented immigrants suspected of committing violent crimes.
The Department of Homeland Security has regularly released the alleged criminal backgrounds of many detainees swept up in immigration raids and other enforcement actions.
On “Real Time with Bill Maher” Friday in Los Angeles, White House border czar Tom Homan said that even if people in the United States illegally do not commit other crimes, they still create a backlog in the immigration system that slows down the process for thousands of immigrants waiting to come here legally.
“Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime,” Homan said. “If you send a message that there’s no consequences and you want to reward illegal behavior, (it’s) not going to stop. …
“If you want to be a part of the greatest nation on Earth, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it,” Homan continued. “The ones who are here illegally cheated the system. They moved themselves to the front of the line and they overwhelmed the immigration court system back nine, 10 years, which means that people who are really trying to come here the right way are sitting in the back of the bus.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said agents wear masks to prevent “doxing,” which refers to individuals researching and publishing personal information of law enforcement officers.
“ICE officers are facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them because of dangerous, untrue smears from elected Democrats like Gavin Newscum,” Jackson said in a statement to HeySoCal.com “ICE officers wear masks to protect themselves and their families from being doxed. ICE officers act heroically to enforce the law and protect American communities with the utmost professionalism. Anyone pointing the finger at law enforcement officers instead of the criminals are simply doing the bidding of criminal illegal aliens.”
Four of the California bills go into effect immediately. The masking law takes effect in January.
Community initiative launches to monitor ICE agents
Hundreds assembled Saturday at MacArthur Park to start a community effort to monitor federal immigration agents’ enforcement activity.
According to organizers, The Save America Movement is “a rapid-response and civic empowerment initiative to ensure the American people have a clear understanding of the actions and impact of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in our communities while providing support to impacted communities.”
The plan is for trained camera crews and volunteers to record ICE operations in real time as they’re occurring. The group unveiled three specially equipped vans to be staffed by trained volunteers that include lawyers, clergy, veterans and videographers.
“Los Angeles will always stand with families under threat,” Bass said in a statement. “Angelenos are showing the country that when our communities are targeted, we respond with solidarity, with resources, and with an unbreakable commitment to justice.”
Volunteer training will precede van deployment, which is set for early October, organizers said.
More information on the initiative is at thesaveamericamovement.org.
Updated Sept. 22, 2025, 1:57 p.m.
