In an age of normalized political violence and intense media vilification of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, the federal government has concluded it’s in the best interest of their safety in some situations to maintain anonymity.
But some deep-blue states already opposed to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies want to strip that safeguard away from the men and women enforcing federal law.
The Trump administration is taking action in one such case this week, announcing a lawsuit against New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Attorney General Jennifer Davenport.
According to the Daily Caller:
The DOJ contends that the law, “Law Enforcement Officer Protection Act,” is unconstitutional because it bans law enforcement officers from wearing masks while working and requires that officers “provide sufficient identification prior to detaining or arresting an individual,” the 24-page complaint said.
ADVERTISEMENTThe complaint also says the law offers limited, vague exceptions but leaves the state’s attorney general to “issue guidelines or a directive necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.”
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the DOJ’s Civil Division said the department will “steadfastly protect the privacy and safety of law enforcement from unconstitutional state laws like New Jersey’s,” according to a department statement.
The DOJ statement further characterizes the law as an illegal attempt for the state to regulate the federal government, as well as a potential catalyst for further harassment, doxing, and possible violence that members of federal law enforcement, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have previously faced.
Sherrill’s push to unmask ICE agents has sparked widespread social media backlash, including from some who pointed out her apparent hypocrisy on the issue of masks:
How does this Progressive 🤡 Mikie Sherrill think she is going to enforce that mask law she put into place against against
Asking for a friend considering she doesn't want police involved with ICE
It's all a game people of NJ, she wants confrontation, it's not about the masks pic.twitter.com/I4ofSdRNdG
— Wake Up NJ 🇺🇸 New Jersey (@wakeupnj) March 30, 2026
Law professor Jonathan Turley pointed out what he said is the constitutional Achilles’ heel of this and similar efforts across the country:
…Sherrill's problem is not with what she calls "masked roving militias" but the Supremacy Clause of Article VI, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) March 26, 2026
Local reports suggest officers are simply refusing to comply with the law in situations where obeying it might put themselves or others at risk:
Local news in New Jersey reports that ICE Agents are IGNORING “Governor” Mikie Sherrill’s illegal order banning them from wearing masks – GREAT news
Reports state ICE is arresting more illegal aliens across NJ, including a previously twice deported domestic abuser in Jackson NJ pic.twitter.com/rq0AoEvNvw
— Michael Casey (@MichaelCasey_) April 10, 2026
This isn’t the only reason the Justice Department is taking New Jersey to court, as Politico reported this week:
The Trump administration is suing the state of New Jersey, seeking to overturn state laws that financially help undocumented immigrants attend public colleges in the state.
The Department of Justice filed the lawsuit Thursday, which specifically targets two laws: One signed by former Gov. Chris Christie and one by former Gov. Phil Murphy.
ADVERTISEMENTThe DOJ has filed similar lawsuits against other states — some of which have ended in favorable outcomes for the Trump administration — like in Texas, Kentucky and Oklahoma. Those lawsuits, however, also had state officials that supported rescinding the in-state tuition benefits.
Christie, a Republican, signed a bill into law in 2013 that allows some undocumented immigrants in the state to receive in-state tuition for public colleges. Murphy took it a step further in 2018, allowing immigrants to also receive state-funded financial assistance.
If the Trump administration gets its way, those benefits will go away entirely.
The DOJ argues that the state laws are unconstitutional since they provide benefits to undocumented immigrants not afforded to other U.S. citizens — in this case citizens from states that are not New Jersey.
“This is a simple matter of federal law: in New Jersey and nationwide, colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the DOJ’s Civil Division said in a statement. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”
And here’s more on a DOJ lawsuit filed a few months ago against the state’s law limiting ICE enforcement:
