SEATTLE, WA — Law enforcement officers in Washington state can no longer cover their faces to conceal their identities.
The law, signed Thursday by Gov. Bob Ferguson, seeks to unmask federal immigration agents detaining people under President Donald Trump. But Senate Bill 5855 also applies equally to state and local police. It takes effect immediately.
Ferguson signed the bill at El Centro de la Raza, a hub for the local Latino community in south Seattle. He was joined by lawmakers, local advocates and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson.
“I’m convinced that years from now, our children and grandchildren will ask: What were we doing?” said Ferguson, a Democrat. “Whatever our station in life happens to be, we all have a responsibility to speak out peacefully, make our voices heard, advocate for laws like this one.”
The bill includes exceptions for personal protective equipment, helmets, gear used on SWAT operations and face coverings worn for religious purposes.
People detained by illegally masked officers can sue them in their official capacity, which could result in monetary damages.
The policy was a priority for legislative Democrats. Ferguson has described it as one of the most important bills of the year. It’s one of several ways they looked to rein in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown before the legislative session ended last week.
In Washington state and elsewhere across the country, masked agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have detained people.
“That’s not the Washington that I was born and raised in,” said bill sponsor Sen. Javier Valdez, D-Seattle. “We were not going to stand for this.”
Washington law currently only requires officers to be “reasonably identifiable,” such as through a name on their uniforms, but are mum on the issue of covering faces. Supporters see the masking law will help build trust in law enforcement and hold officers accountable.
Democrats passed the bill through the Legislature without any votes from Republicans, who see it as unconstitutional. The supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution holds that federal law takes precedence over state law. The state has litigated claims its laws violated this clause in its dealings with the federal immigrant detention center in Tacoma, as well.
Washington’s law follows a similar push in California that a judge blocked earlier this year.
The preliminary ruling in that case hinged on a key difference between the two states’ laws. California’s doesn’t apply to all law enforcement officers the same. It targets federal agents but leaves out state police. Washington’s prohibition applies across the board. That could mean Washington’s law has a better chance of holding up in court.
Ferguson, a former three-term state attorney general, said a legal challenge to Washington’s law is “inevitable” but he is confident it would be upheld.
“The one thing I know is when the AG’s office in Washington state defends laws that we do related to the federal government, we win just about every single time,” Ferguson told reporters after signing the law. “I’m confident and we did our best to structure it in a way that is defensible.”
Opponents say these gaiter-style coverings are necessary to protect law enforcement from facing threats against themselves and their families from members of the public.
Other states and local governments across the country are considering similar prohibitions.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the White House didn’t respond to requests for comment on Washington’s new law.
The bill signing started late Thursday as police were called in to force multiple apparent anti-ICE protesters to leave. Seattle officers made another leave during the signing.
Malou Chávez, executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, acknowledged the protesters outside the event who could be heard shouting and banging on windows throughout the event.
“This is the frustration and the fear our communities are experiencing,” she said.
Ferguson said he understood “their passion, and I appreciate their right to protest.”
Also on Thursday, Ferguson signed legislation making it a gross misdemeanor to masquerade as police, motivated by reports of people pretending to be ICE agents. The governor had requested the measure, House Bill 2165. That law takes effect in mid-June.
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