New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday proposed banning law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings while interacting with the public, escalating her efforts to impose new limits on federal immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump.
"I want to make sure ICE agents can no longer hide behind a mask while violating innocent Americans," she said, according to Politico.
"I'm proposing a ban on face coverings for state, federal and local law enforcement officers. They will no longer be able to conceal their identities while interacting with the public."
Her office said the restriction would not apply to safety or medical gear, including items like sunglasses.
The proposal is the latest in a series of measures Hochul has advanced as part of a broader push to curb cooperation between New York authorities and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), amid heightened tensions over federal immigration crackdowns.
In January, Hochul introduced legislation aimed at preventing local police and jails from assisting federal agents with civil immigration enforcement, arguing that such cooperation diverts resources away from local crime-fighting and undermines trust in law enforcement.
That proposal followed a wave of national scrutiny over immigration enforcement practices, including a high-profile incident in Minneapolis in which federal agents killed two U.S. citizens, intensifying debate over deportation policies and the conduct of federal officers.
Hochul's latest proposal comes as she negotiates a broader package of immigration-related measures with New York's Democratic-led Legislature, where lawmakers are divided over how far the state should go in limiting cooperation with federal authorities.
The governor, who is seeking reelection in November 2026, has increasingly embraced policies aimed at shielding undocumented immigrants in a state home to an estimated hundreds of thousands of such residents.
Her agenda includes expanding so-called sensitive locations where civil immigration enforcement actions cannot be carried out without a judicial warrant and creating new legal pathways for residents to sue federal officials over alleged constitutional violations.
The push reflects a broader trend among Democratic governors who have sought to counter the Trump administration's stricter immigration enforcement policies, which were a central focus of his successful 2024 campaign.
Still, Hochul's approach has exposed divisions within her own party, particularly over whether local law enforcement should ever share information with federal immigration authorities.
"There's no public safety justification for local and state law enforcement sharing immigration information with ICE," said Democratic state Sen. Julia Salazar.
Hochul defended her approach, emphasizing that her proposals would set minimum protections while allowing local governments to adopt stricter policies if they choose.
"Any municipality can go as far as they want in terms of protecting New York residents from ICE," she said. "We're establishing basically a floor."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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