During Monday afternoon’s Katy Tur Reports, the MSNBC show promoted the absurd claim that ICE agents’ mask-wearing has been is a motivating factor in resisting law enforcement. This was in reaction to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s ban on “extreme masking” by law enforcement, which he signed into law on Saturday.

Tur described the unconventional uniform as a source of significant emotional angst: “So, lots of anger about the masks. A lot of building anger. People feel like they don't know who is taking them into custody. They feel, as Gavin Newsom said, that it is dystopian. It’s scary.”

Trespassers who take American jobs and social benefits without following the proper path to citizenship should be scared. Apparently, Tur was more preoccupied with the feelings of foreign invaders than security of her own country.

Tur then raised the question of legality concerning the California law. MSNBC correspondent Julia Ainsley admitted that the state will most likely face trouble in court, but still doubted the obvious endgame:

But, of course, there's always the counter-argument that federal law enforcement could say that their jurisdiction supersedes that of the state and of state law, and that they don't need to abide by those laws. They could argue that on the ground. They could argue that in a lawsuit. So it's unclear how this will play out.

ICE has already released a statement in response to the ban. For those who might be unsure how this will play out, here’s a realistic timeline: ICE refuses to comply with the ban; California finds a liberal-sympathizing federal judge to reprimand the Trump administration; President Trump eventually asks the Supreme Court to strike down the federal judge’s ruling. And groundhog day repeats itself.

Ainsley then explained the real need for ICE agents to retain anonymity:

What ICE says, Katy, about why they need to wear these masks in the first place is because assaults on ICE officers, they say, are up 1,000 percent. I've asked for the raw data. I've asked for the timeline of that. We don't exactly know. But they keep saying, “We have to wear masks because if these people, who are out there arresting immigrants, if they show their faces, their families could be put in danger, they could be doxed people could try to figure out who they are and retaliate against them.”

If immigration enforcement ever becomes a non-controversial matter in this country, then agents will perhaps feel safe showing their faces. But so long as it remains a hotly-contested national debate, liberal demonstrators should be expected to continue to defy and unsettle law enforcement measures.

The most ridiculous statement came from Ainsely, who pushed the idea that the masks themselves are agitating arrestees:

But if you talk to some of these state legislators or people who have been arrested by ICE, they say that assaults are up because of the masks, that they feel that they don't know who it is, who is apprehending them, pulling them off the street exactly as the Governor just described there. And so they feel that they need to fight back in some cases.

Those who have been going out of their way to disrupt or evade federal agents were already politically polarized by the nature of the agents’ business. The masks are merely another element the left finds distasteful in the mass-deportation effort.

There have been instances of bad actors posing as ICE agents who committed vicious crimes. On the other hand, there are numerous cases of activists actively monitoring ICE enforcement operations in an effort to subvert their effectiveness. If the identities of personnel were revealed, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine hardcore dissenters taking their protesting to the extent of harassing agents at their homes.

The wonderful irony of all this is Newsom ordered Californians to mask up during the COVID pandemic. Different circumstances, but humorous nonetheless.

If anyone is actually taking this new law seriously, don’t. State governors and legislatures do not have that kind of authority over federal agents. Newsom is simply portraying himself as presidential candidate material by directly combatting Trump and MAGA policies. Nothing more, nothing less.

The transcript is below. Click "expand" read:

MSNBC’s Katy Tur Reports

September 22, 2025

2:38:37 p.m. Eastern

(…)

KATY TUR: So, lots of anger about the masks. A lot of building anger. People feel like they don't know who is taking them into custody. They feel, as Gavin Newsom said, that it is dystopian. It's scary. Is this new rule, this new ban in California, going to apply to federal agents?

JULIA AINSLEY: Well, that's the question. I interviewed some of the legislators in California who were working on this proposal in the summer, when it was just beginning, before it got to Governor Newsom's desk. And they said it was their hope that federal law enforcement would abide by this law. But, of course, there's always the counter-argument that federal law enforcement could say that their jurisdiction supersedes that of the state and of state law, and that they don't need to abide by those laws. They could argue that on the ground. They could argue that in a lawsuit. So it's unclear how this will play out.

There's similar legislation, Katy, at the federal level that's been proposed by Democrats here in Washington. But of course, with Republicans in control, it's hard to see how that will see the light of day. But that kind of legislation would have the teeth here.

What ICE says, Katy, about why they need to wear these masks in the first place is because assaults on ICE officers, they say, are up 1,000 percent. I've asked for the raw data. I've asked for the timeline of that. We don't exactly know. But they keep saying, “We have to wear masks because if these people, who are out there arresting immigrants, if they show their faces, their families could be put in danger, they could be doxed people could try to figure out who they are and retaliate against them.”

But if you talk to some of these state legislators or people who have been arrested by ICE, they say that assaults are up because of the masks, that they feel that they don't know who it is, who is apprehending them, pulling them off the street exactly as the Governor just described there. And so they feel that they need to fight back in some cases. So, I don't know if you call that “chicken or the egg,” that might be making it too simplistic. But it’s a complicated situation that isn’t made easier when these people don’t know who it is who’s arresting them.

(…)