New York to ban police masks, restrict ICE access under budget deal

New York is moving to bar law enforcement officers from wearing masks on duty while also limiting when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can enter schools, health care facilities, homes and other sensitive locations without a judicial warrant, a package that puts transparency and officer identification at the center of a fight over federal power.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced the FY 2027 budget agreement on May 7, 2026, and said the mask ban would apply to state, local and federal officers interacting with the public. The governor’s office said the measure would exclude tactical equipment, sunglasses and medical masks from the definition of a face covering, and would allow exceptions only in rare circumstances where there is a genuine operational need, such as a gas mask. The state budget covers April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027.

The deal goes beyond the mask fight. It would prevent state law enforcement from working with ICE on federal civil immigration enforcement and require a judicial warrant before ICE could enter sensitive locations. Hochul had already advanced similar ideas on January 30, 2026, when she proposed stopping local police and jails from being used for federal civil immigration enforcement and requiring a warrant for ICE access to protected spaces. New York State Senate bill S8462 goes even further, prohibiting local, state and federal law enforcement officers from wearing any mask or personal disguise while interacting with the public.

The policy is almost certain to meet immediate legal resistance. The Justice Department has already sued California and New Jersey over state efforts to restrict federal immigration enforcement, with the New Jersey lawsuit filed on April 29, 2026. Federal officials have cast those cases as part of a broader effort to challenge state and local laws they say impede federal operations. New York now appears headed for the same collision, with the Trump administration likely to argue that Albany is crossing into federal authority over immigration enforcement.

Supporters of the mask ban say the issue is accountability, not symbolism. Critics of masked ICE arrests, including Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez and Congressman Jerry Nadler, have argued that face coverings fuel fear and make it harder to identify officers or hold them responsible. Backers of anti-masking measures have also found support in earlier efforts in New York City, where a 2025 proposal called the MELT Act would have barred ICE agents from wearing masks or other face coverings while acting as federal agents.

The broader legal landscape remains unsettled. A federal court ruling reported in February 2026 said California had power to ban federal agents from wearing masks, but later appellate litigation appeared to block a second California attempt. That leaves New York’s plan poised to become another test of how far states can go in policing the appearance and reach of federal immigration officers, and how quickly Washington will fight back.