The panel held that Section 10 of California's No Vigilantes Act (Senate Bill 805), which required plainclothes federal officers to visibly display identification while enforcing federal law in the state, attempts to directly regulate the United States in its performance of governmental functions without congressional authorisation and therefore likely violates the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution. Judge Mark J. Bennett wrote for the panel, which also included Judges Daniel Collins and Jacqueline Nguyen, according to the Los Angeles Times reporting summarised by MigraPrep and reporting by The Front Page.

The court reversed a lower-court decision and remanded the case with instructions to enter a preliminary injunction blocking the identification requirement against federal agencies and officers while the case proceeds. US District Judge Christina A. Snyder had earlier allowed the identification rule to go forward while blocking a related mask provision. The same Ninth Circuit panel had already paused the identification requirement in April pending appeal.

The Justice Department sued California and Governor Gavin Newsom after the state enacted the measure, arguing a state cannot dictate how federal officers perform federal duties. The ruling covers only the identification requirement in the No Vigilantes Act; it does not decide California's separate mask ban, the No Secret Police Act (Senate Bill 627), The Hill reported via coverage of the ruling.

For residents of California's Central Valley and other Punjabi-diaspora communities, the ruling means state law cannot compel ICE and other federal agents operating in California to show visible identification under this statute while the injunction is in place. The underlying lawsuit continues in district court, so the final outcome is not yet decided.

Sources: Los Angeles Times, October 14, 2026, as reported by MigraPrep; The Hill, reported October 14-15, 2026, via coverage of the Ninth Circuit ruling; Fox News reporting cited by Washington Digest, October 15, 2026; The Front Page, October 14, 2026 (7 sources).