Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Tuesday to ban law enforcement from using electroshock gloves as part of a raft of bills strengthening state oversight of federal immigration enforcement.
Read more Newsom veto of wildfire insurance bills leads supporters to ask: Was it payback?
He also signed bills to levy a 25% tax on private detention facilities; curb immigration authorities’ use of flash-bang grenades during raids; forbids Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who have committed “serious misconduct” from becoming state workers or police officers; and expands state oversight of detention facilities.
Newsom said in a statement that while California couldn’t outright challenge federal immigration policy, the bills he signed “strengthen transparency, accountability and oversight around immigration enforcement in our state.”
“This is about stepping up where the federal government has failed our communities,” Newsom said. “We will continue protecting our people, upholding the rule of law, and making clear that if the federal government operates in California, we will hold them accountable.”
The electroshock glove ban comes as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security prepares to spend up to $20 million to outfit ICE officers with the wearable technology, which delivers a painful shock when applied to a person’s bare skin. The California ban is in effect until 2030.
Read more Small jet overruns Auburn Municipal Airport runway; passengers escape injury
Previous attempts to curb ICE activity in California have run into legal roadblocks after the White House sent the National Guard to quell protests in Los Angeles last year.
A federal judge struck down a bill Newsom signed last year that would have banned federal officers from donning masks to obscure their identities, which the judge deemed too selective.
Among one of the bills Newsom signed Tuesday was a narrow version of that ban, authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. It bans state, local and federal officers from masking to hide their identities.
Read more Elk Grove’s Giant Pumpkin Festival is back. Here’s what to know before you visit
This story was originally published September 29, 2026 at 10:02 AM.
