Portland Sued by Justice Department Over Ordinance Requiring Federal Officers to Show ID and Go Unmasked
PORTLAND, Ore. — The City of Portland is being sued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) over its restrictions on facial coverings and identification requirements for law enforcement officers, which DOJ argues cannot constitutionally be applied to federal officers. A similar lawsuit was also filed on Thursday against the City of St. Paul, Minnesota.
DOJ Says Portland Ordinance is Illegal and Unconstitutional
According to the DOJ, the Portland ordinance ‘is an illegal and unconstitutional attempt to regulate the federal government.’
These are the latest in a series of lawsuits brought by the DOJ’s Civil Division that allege federal law enforcement officers are being targeted.
New York, Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey, California, Maryland, Philadelphia, Denver, and Milwaukee are facing similar lawsuits.
The DOJ Claims That Federal Agents Have Faced a Wave of Harassment, Doxxing, and Violence
According to the two lawsuits filed on Thursday against the cities of Portland and St. Paul, their ordinances threaten the safety of federal officers “who have faced an unprecedented wave of harassment, doxxing, and even violence.”
The DOJ says threatening federal law enforcement officers with prosecution compromises sensitive enforcement operations.
Portland Passed the Ordinance Following Increased ICE Agent Activity
On May 27, 2026, Portland passed an ordinance requiring law enforcement officers to display clear identification and banning identity-concealing face masks.
The ordinance was the result of an increase in the arrest of immigrants by ICE agents and was taken to protect the residents of Portland, a sanctuary city.
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. says localities cannot regulate the federal government and its law enforcement officers under the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.
‘The DOJ will never tolerate the doxxing or harassment of federal officers, or any law like those in St. Paul and Portland that enables violent behavior against federal law enforcement officers and their families,’ he says in a press statement.