Department of Homeland Security officers protect the driveway of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, Ore., June 17, 2025.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
The federal government is taking Portland to court over its recently adopted policy banning law enforcement from wearing face coverings and requiring officers to wear clear identification.
The complaint filed Thursday accuses the city of unconstitutionally enacting a law that regulates federal law enforcement.
“Laws like these impede federal law enforcement’s ability to keep Oregonians safe and endanger the brave men and women of federal law enforcement,” U.S. Attorney Scott Bradford for the District of Oregon said in a press release. “It is unfair and improper to vilify them for political purposes.”
The news comes a day after a federal appeals court struck down a California law requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to show visible identification. The court ruled that the state was in violation of the Supremacy Clause, a section of the U.S. Constitution that says state law cannot override federal law.
Portland’s policy, adopted with an 8-4 vote in May, intended to protect the public from people who may impersonate a federal immigration officer (an alarming trend that had grabbed headlines earlier this year).
Councilor Sameer Kanal introduced the proposal. On Thursday, Kanal said he couldn’t comment on the litigation, but added, “We strongly believe that law enforcement officers who are easily identifiable promote transparency in their duties and strengthen trust between agencies and the communities they serve.”
Both Mayor Keith Wilson and the city’s rank-and-file police union opposed the proposal this spring, suggesting it violated labor laws and would only attract litigation.
The policy’s supporters didn’t discount the legal threat in May.
At the time, Councilor Steve Novick said he believed there was a “high likelihood” the policy would be struck down in court.
“But we do have strong legal arguments, and it’s an important cause, so I think it’s worth taking a chance that we might prevail,” Novick said, who ultimately voted to pass the policy.
Notably, the complaint doesn’t address Oregon’s new law that also bans facial coverings for law enforcement.
The Department of Justice filed a similar lawsuit against St. Paul, Minnesota, Thursday for adopting a law enforcement mask ban and identification policy in February.
The DOJ has filed similar lawsuits in New York, Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Philadelphia, Denver and Milwaukee.
