A federal appeals court ruled that California cannot force federal immigration agents and other federal officers to display identification during enforcement operations.
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A federal appeals court ruled that California cannot force federal immigration agents and other federal officers to display identification during enforcement operations.
In a decision handed down Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Section 10 of California’s “No Vigilantes Act” violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The ruling reverses a lower court and orders a preliminary injunction barring the state from enforcing the identification requirement against federal agencies and officers.
The law required non-uniformed law enforcement officers operating in California, including federal agents, to visibly display their agency and either a name or badge number while carrying out enforcement duties. Officers who refused could face misdemeanor prosecution by the state.
Judge Mark Bennett, writing for the panel, said the measure attempts to directly regulate the federal government as it performs its own functions, something a state cannot do without authorization from Congress. Because law enforcement is a core government activity, the court held the identification mandate is invalid in every application to federal officers acting under federal authority.
The panel did not stop at finding the federal government likely to win. It declared the government “certain” to succeed on its constitutional challenge.
California argued the law was permissible because it did not substantially interfere with federal operations. The judges rejected that reasoning, holding that even minimal interference is beside the point when a state directly regulates federal governmental conduct. The panel, which included Obama appointee Jacqueline Nguyen and Trump appointees Bennett and Daniel Collins, had already paused the requirement in April before Tuesday’s ruling on the merits.
California enacted the No Vigilantes Act in 2025 after federal immigration sweeps across the state, many carried out by masked agents in unmarked cars, drew objections from Democrat officials. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it alongside the No Secret Police Act, which restricts officers from wearing face coverings and was separately blocked by a district judge earlier this year. With the appeals court siding with the Trump administration, the state’s remaining options narrow to seeking a rehearing or petitioning the Supreme Court.
The ruling is already drawing strong reactions, reviving the fight between California and the federal government over immigration enforcement.
