In Pasadena, State Senator Announces California Bill Amendments to Ban Masks for Federal Agents During Operations

In an emotionally charged press conference Monday morning on the steps of Pasadena City Hall, State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez, joined by Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo and an assemblage of state and local leaders—including members of the National Day Laborers Organizing Network, Community Clergy Coalition, and the Pasadena Job Center—introduced sweeping proposed amendments to California Senate Bill 805, a bill aimed at increasing transparency and accountability for law enforcement and federal agents operating in California.

Dubbed the “No Vigilantes Act,” the bill would require any law enforcement personnel conducting operations in the state to clearly display their name or badge number and prohibit the use of masks or facial coverings during active duty.

The proposed legislation arrives in the wake of what speakers described as 18 straight days of terrifying, unannounced raids conducted by masked and often unidentifiable federal officials across greater Los Angeles—including residential neighborhoods, job sites, and even street food stands in Pasadena.

“We are facing an extraordinary moment,” said Senator Pérez, who represents California’s 25th Senate District, which includes Pasadena. “Masked agents with no name identification, no uniforms, and unmarked vehicles are detaining our neighbors in broad daylight. And when asked for their badge numbers, they refuse. These actions are making us less safe.”

Assemblymember Sade Elhawary, a co-author of the bill, denounced the operations as “government-sanctioned kidnappings” that threaten already-displaced families still reeling from the wildfires.

“They’re dragging people from work sites with no ID, no badge—just masks and violence,” Elhawary said. “If you’re too ashamed to show your face, you don’t belong here.”

According to a city spokesperson, local municipalities are currently prohibited from interfering with ICE operations, or barring ICE from entering their cities.

Mayor Gordo, who spoke from personal and professional experience as an immigrant, attorney, and father, said, “I’m offended on a number of grounds…  it’s our own federal government that is employing [the] same tactics that were employed in Nazi Germany…  We now see those tactics employed by the cartels where people jump out of vehicles, don’t identify themselves… Now, it also creates a dangerous situation… That in fact is the recipe for disaster.”

Gordo recounted an incident in Pasadena where a masked man pointed a weapon at a resident who had simply taken a photo of an unmarked vehicle believed to be involved in an ICE operation.

“He could have easily pulled the trigger accidentally or intentionally missed his target, hit an innocent bystander. That’s not acceptable.”

Gordo said, “our police department is not being informed of these actions… our chief calls every day and the phone is not being picked up.”

Two community members, Francisco and Sandra Garcia, gave first-hand accounts of the fear and trauma these raids are inflicting on local residents.

“Francisco,” a Pasadena resident who works remotely, described a terrifying June 18 encounter near Orange Grove and Los Robles.

After receiving word that people were being detained at a nearby shopping center, he went to investigate and tried to document a suspicious black Dodge Charger.

“When I crouched down to snap a photo of the license plate, the driver jumped out wearing a tactical vest, mask, and street clothes. He pointed what looked like a gun at me and said nothing—no badge, no name,” Francisco recalled. “It was terrifying. And it shouldn’t be allowed to happen. Not in a community like this.”

:pcal resident Sandra Garcia also shared her story. On a recent morning, she received a frantic call from her mother, who “saw them arrive and was so panicked” in her neighborhood.

“I left work and ran down the street. When I got there, a masked man claiming to be an officer yelled at me to be quiet, to shut up, telling me too that he was going to send me back to my country,” Garcia said, shaking with emotion. “My family is just hardworking street vendors. We are good people, not criminals. We feel like constantly living with fear and we don’t know when this is going to stop or even happen again.”

Garcia stressed the need for legal identification requirements.

“We can’t identify them to file a complaint against them… These people don’t look like police officers. They are using excessive force and [are] very cruel while approaching … those hardworking people.”

Angelica Salas, Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), described the current immigration enforcement campaign as a “warlike operation.”

“For the last 18 days, terror has been unleashed on immigrant and Latino communities in Los Angeles,” she said. “What we’re witnessing and getting reports of racial profiling, abuse of power, insults, harassment, weapons being pulled on bystanders, warrantless arrests, heavily armed presence in public spaces… This chaos is by design.”

Salas also confirmed witnessing the June 18 incident involving Francisco, stating she feared the masked agent would fire on the crowd. She described the agent speeding away after turning on a police siren in the car.

According to the bill’s supporters, the proposed law would not only hold federal agents and contractors accountable but also protect local police departments from potentially deadly confusion in the field.

As Gordo put it, “Imagine a Pasadena police officer coming upon these same set of circumstances… that again, is a dangerous situation. If in fact there are federal agents, vigilantes, it’s dangerous for them. It’s dangerous for the individual that was being chased. It’s dangerous for that Pasadena police officer.”

Added Senator Pérez: “This is about oversight, safety, and the rule of law. If you are conducting enforcement operations in California, you must identify yourself. That’s not just common sense. That’s democracy.”

SB 805 is expected to be debated in committee later this summer, with mounting support from across Southern California and civil rights advocates statewide. As the immigrant communities of Pasadena and beyond continue to reel from the fear and confusion of recent weeks, leaders say the need for action has never been more critical for the legislation.