Los Angeles County supervisors unveiled a proposed ordinance Monday that would prohibit federal immigration agents and other law enforcement officers from concealing their identities, while two Southern California members of Congress are seeking answers on the 25 reported deaths of immigration detainees.
The proposed county law is up for a vote Dec. 2 and seeks to prohibit all officers with local, state and federal agencies from wearing masks or personal disguises while interacting with the public in unincorporated areas.
If approved, the ordinance also would require that all law enforcement officers wear visible IDs and agency affiliation.
“I never thought I would see the day when a masked, anonymous federal police force would be swarming our neighborhoods, targeting people based on the color of their skin or the language they speak, and forcing men and women into unmarked vans at gunpoint. This is how an authoritarian’s secret police operate – not legitimate law enforcement in a democracy,” Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement announcing the proposed ordinance that she co-authored with Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.
Hahn acknowledged the move will likely draw opposition from the federal government, which has already sued California over similar laws requiring officer identification.
“If this means a fight with the federal government, I think it is a fight worth having,” Hahn said. “We cannot give in now and make this okay in America.”
Administration officials said increasing violence against immigration agents was a motivation for masks and lashed out at state and local officials.
“Sanctuary politicians attempting to ban our federal law enforcement from wearing masks is despicable and a flagrant attempt to endanger our officers,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “To be crystal clear: we will not abide by a state’s unconstitutional ban.”
McLaughlin and White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said violent attacks against federal agents has increased “1000%.” McLaughlin cited increasing “terror attacks, cars being used as weapons (and) bounties to murder them placed on their heads. … We’ve also seen thugs launch websites to reveal officers’ identities to dox and threated their families. We will prosecute those who dox our agents or lay a hand on law enforcement to the fullest extent of the law.”
Jackson said in a statement, “ICE officers are facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them because of dangerous, untrue smears from elected Democrats. 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.”
In July, the Board of Supervisors approved a motion co-authored by Hahn and Supervisor Hilda Solis that directed the Office of the County Counsel to draft the ordinance. The board’s move follows weeks of county residents reporting “disturbing encounters with plainclothes or masked agents — many refusing to identify themselves or display any form of official credentials,” sparking fear and confusion about possible impersonation and other abuses, according to a county statement.
The county’s proposed ordinance differs slightly from the state’s agent ID law with its application to the California Highway Patrol and including exceptions crafted in consultation with law enforcement groups that include medical masks, breathing apparatuses, motorcycle helmets when riding a motorcycle, SWAT teams and active undercover operations.
“Adopting this ordinance is a direct response to the federal government’s shameful targeting of immigrant communities in Los Angeles County,” Horvath said in a statement. “No law enforcement officer should ever be allowed to hide behind a mask or conceal their identity while operating in our neighborhoods — not ICE, not anyone. If their actions are truly in the public’s interest, they should be willing to stand openly behind them. As part of our declared local emergency, we are shutting down this dangerous loophole and sending a clear message: in Los Angeles County, transparency is not optional, and no agency gets to operate in the shadows to terrorize our residents.”
If a majority of supervisors vote for the ordinance, a required second will take place Dec. 9. The law would take effect 30 days after adoption.
The board meets at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 W. Temple St. in downtown LA. Information on providing public comment is on the county’s website, and the proposed ordinance is also available online.
Reps demand accountability in ICE deaths
U.S. Reps. Dave Min, D-Irvine, and Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, were the top signers pf a congressional letter Friday to federal officials demanding information about the treatment of detainees arrested in immigration enforcement operations.
The letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noel and Todd Lynons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was signed by 43 other members of Congress, including Southland Democrats Robert Garcia, Maxine Waters, Lou Correa and Mike Levin.
The representatives note the 25 reported detainee deaths since Jan. 23 is 64% as many in-custody deaths in the first nine months of President Donald Trump’s second term as occurred during his entire first term, when 36 detainees died in custody. The number of deaths this year exceeds every year on record since reporting started in 2018, including when deaths spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The letter detailed the death of 56-year-old Gabriel Garcia-Aviles, of Costa Mesa, who died Oct. 23 at the agency’s processing center in Adelanto.
“His death comes one month after the death of Mr. Ismael Ayala-Uribe on Sept. 22 … also at Adelanto, who was reportedly denied medical treatment,” the reps wrote. “These deaths raise serious questions about ICE’s ability to compy with basic detention standards, medical care protocols, and notification requirements, and underscore a pattern of grgoss negligence that demands immediate accountability.”
A Nov. 3 ICE statement alleged that Garcia-Aviles, who illegally immigrated from Mexico, died at Victory Valley Global Medical Center in Victorville. According to the agency, Garcia-Aviles was arrested Oct. 15 and “did not spend the night at Adelanto because that same day Garcia exhibited suspected alcohol withdrawal symptoms and was therefore immediately admitted” to the hospital.
His family requested that “medical staff discontinue resuscitation efforts” about 7:45 p.m. Oct. 23, immigration officials reported. Hospital officials “attributed the death to cardiac arrest due to alcohol withdrawals.”
According to ICE, Garcia-Aviles said he told “medical staff that he consumed approximately two pints of liquor daily.”
The agency also claimed that Garcia-Aviles had made multiple illegal entries into the country in 2007 and 2008 and that Costa Mesa police had arrested him multiple times from 2021-25 on suspicion of disorderly conduct and false identification to police.
The congressional representatives argue in the letter that ICE “appears to have repeatedly failed to comply with internal standards, and these failures have contributed to deaths in custody.”
During the past decade, ICE has “delayed or provided substandard medical care, neglected to provide proper medication, and falsified medical records… ICE’s failure to adhere to basic standards of care for individuals in its custody is inexcusable,” according to the letter.
The representatives said Garcia-Aviles had lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years, and his family was informed of his condition “when he was on his deathbed,” indicating failure to comply with directives for timely notification to next of kin.
The letter also discusses detainee deaths in Florida and Texas and includes a demand for information on medical care provided to detainees and the steps taken to improve it.
Updated Nov. 24, 2025, 9:08 a.m.
