9th Circuit Unanimously Blocks California's 'No Vigilantes Act' Requiring ICE Agents to Display Visible ID

A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down California's 'No Vigilantes Act' on April 22, 2026, blocking a state law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2025 that required federal immigration agents to wear visible identification during enforcement operations. The panel — composed of two Trump appointees and one Obama appointee — held that the law violated the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, citing an 1890 Supreme Court precedent (In re Neagle) prohibiting states from prosecuting or regulating federal officers acting in their official capacity. California had passed the No Vigilantes Act following numerous incidents in which ICE agents operating in plainclothes or unmarked vehicles were accused of acting without any visible identification, prompting fears of impersonation and leading to community safety concerns. The ruling blocks enforcement of the ID requirement while the full appeal proceeds; a related California law banning federal agents from wearing masks during operations had already been enjoined by a federal judge on February 19, 2026. The decision is a significant legal victory for the Trump administration's arguments that states cannot impose compliance requirements on federal immigration enforcement officers. California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office had defended the law as a constitutional exercise of state police power to protect residents from individuals who might falsely claim to be federal agents.