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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 09: Federal agents wearing masks patrol the halls of immigration court at the Ted Weiss Federal Building on July 09, 2025 in New York City. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is on track to become the largest law enfo

NEW YORK – A new bill being pushed in the New York State Senate would ban federal enforcement agents, including ICE agents, from using face coverings or dressing in plain clothes during civil immigration actions.

The MELT Act

What we know:

The Mandating End of Lawless Tactics (MELT) Act would prohibit federal enforcement agents from obscuring their identity by using face masks or dressing out of uniform while they are enforcing immigration law in New York.

Assemblymember Tony Simone and New York State Senator Patricia Fahy are co-sponsoring the bill.

If passed, the MELT Act would require federal immigration agents operating in New York to wear “clearly visible uniforms with name badges and agency-identifying apparel.”

Local perspective:

New York City officials have also expressed their own support for the MELT Act. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine publicly expressed his support for the act earlier this month.

“This is not called democracy, this is called dictatorship,” Levine said at a press conference.

“When agents of the federal government are operating like masked militias, we’ve crossed a dangerous line…”

— New York State Senator Patricia Fahy

At that same press conference was New York City Comptroller and former New York City mayoral candidate Brad Lander. Lander was arrested by ICE agents in immigration court about a month ago, but was released within the day.

Current Democratic nominee for the New York City mayoral race Zohran Mamdani has pledged to “Trump-proof” the city, including kicking ICE out of the five boroughs.

Potential mask ban for New Yorkers

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has expressed support for a citywide ban on masks that are worn for non-health reasons.

“I think that we need to come up with the right solution to make sure that we stop the use of masks and illegal criminal violent behavior,” Adams said in an interview given about a year ago.

Adams mentioned a potential mask ban for the city as recently as this month, according to the New York Post. Adams would have to bypass the state government to create a specifically citywide ban.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has also brought up the idea of a statewide mask ban. Earlier this year, Hochul proposed a criminal charge that would make it a misdemeanor for a person to “use a mask to conceal their identity when committing a Class A misdemeanor or higher crime or fleeing the scene immediately after committing such a crime.”

There is currently a bill in the New York State Senate that, if passed, would establish the crime of “deceptive wearing of a mask and aggravated deceptive wearing of a mask.”

Similar bills in other states

Big picture view:

Two California Senate bills with similar regulations – the No Secret Police Act and the No Vigilantes Act – were recently passed by the state’s Assembly Public Safety Committee. The bills would prohibit law enforcement at any level from concealing their faces and require the officers to clearly identify themselves.

Both bills have also received the support of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

A bill in Massachusetts, House Docket 4886, would prohibit law enforcement officers at every level from wearing a mask or personal disguise while carrying out their duty, and would require the officers to display either their names or badge numbers on their uniforms.

Though not proper legislation, Leonardo Quintero, chair of the 12th District Police Council in Chicago, co-wrote a letter with other members of the police council to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson calling for a citywide ban on masked federal agents.

Legislation at the federal level

Congressman Dan Goldman and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat have introduced legislation at the federal level that would ban law enforcement officers and Department of Homeland Security agents from wearing face coverings while enforcing immigration law; the bill would also require said officers and agents to clearly display identification and insignia while enforcing the law.

The “No Secret Police Act” is not entirely new legislation, but is rather an amendment of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 20 other attorneys general on July 15 to urge Congress to pass legislation that would achieve these same results, though the “No Secret Police Act” was not the only legislation cited.

Other proposed legislation mentioned includes the “No Anonymity in Immigration Enforcement Act’’ and the “ICE Badge Visibility Act” in the House, as well as the “Visible Identification Standards for Immigration-Based Law Enforcement (VISIBLE) Act” in the Senate.

Those in favor of officers wearing face coverings

The other side:

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman issued an executive order that amended the previously existing “Mask Transparency Act,” which had banned face coverings in public places except in cases of religious, health or cultural necessity. 

The amended act gives federal, state and local law enforcement officers the option to wear masks during operations, including ICE raids.

Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons told Fox News, “While I’m not a fan of the masks… we need to support our agents and officers.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on July 15 that ICE officials “are facing an 830 percent increase in assaults from January 21 to July 14, compared with the same period in 2024.” 

The Source: This article includes information from legislation at the state and federal levels, a press release from the Department of Homeland Security and social media posts made by several government officials, as well as reporting from the Associated Press, the New York Post and Fox News.

New York CityCrime and Public SafetyImmigration 2025