Are we far enough away from the shadow of COVID that New York passing a law banning masks isn’t hilarious? Details, I know. The Empire State would never ban medical masks even if they were worn to conceal your identity, something federal agents in Border Protection and enforcement should consider the next time someone gives them crap.
“The state legislature passed the anti-face coverings measure with the state budget, which Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul signed in May, according to the Associated Press.” The ban was very specific. It prohibited Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from wearing face coverings. A judge just threw it out.
In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino of the Northern District of New York wrote that while the state “appears to be well-intentioned in its pursuit of transparent policing,” that is not the issue.
“The issue now before the Court is about constitutionality — not transparency or preferable policy decisions,” she wrote.
The State of New York, your state, my state, has no jurisdiction over the rules applied to federal agents. They can’t “regulate federal officers.” Face covering would fall under uniforms or dress codes.
The judge did say that,
“She said that “New York officials “may be correct that federal immigration officers wearing masks and not displaying viable identification creates certain dangerous situations that the face covering and identification acts remedy.”
But they don’t have the power to de-mask them.
The courts will continue to consider the situation, but ICE and its agents could probably make the case that masking is for their health, which it is. Despite wearing masks, organized groups of activists all seem to know who they are and where they are. Then there are the words “police” and “ICE” on their body armor and jackets.
And if I’m not mistaken, they are required to announce who they are when they engage in enforcement activity.
All points the lawyers will bring up in their defense.
So what defense is there for wasting all this taxpayer money on a scheme to make it easier to dox federal agents, that is, after all, what New York is trying to do.
