Swansenreport

The Justice Department isn’t asking. It’s telling.

In a July 10 letter to Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Common Council President José G. Pérez, and City Attorney Evan Goyke, federal officials declared that Milwaukee’s ban on masked law enforcement officers is unconstitutional — and that ICE agents will keep wearing masks regardless of what city ordinance says otherwise.

“Such a law cannot stand,” the letter states.

The letter was signed by Brad Schimel, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate. Their argument rests on the Supremacy Clause — the constitutional principle that federal law overrides conflicting local ordinances. Milwaukee’s mask ban, they argue, does more than annoy federal agents. It exposes them to local prosecution for doing their jobs, which “chills their ability to perform those duties” and risks “a confrontation between local and federal law enforcement.”

The city has until July 17 to provide written assurance it won’t enforce the ordinance.

Context matters here. Milwaukee’s Common Council passed the mask ban unanimously in April, part of a broader “ICE Out” package responding to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement push. The timing wasn’t incidental — it followed a wave of ICE arrests in the city, including video showing masked agents surrounding vehicles, breaking windows, and pointing weapons during takedowns. Council members wanted a way for residents to tell real federal agents apart from impersonators. Fines for violators run $5,000 to $10,000.

But the city’s own lawyers saw this fight coming months ago. Back in March, Assistant City Attorney Clint Muche told the Public Safety & Health Committee that federal agencies would likely have immunity from local prosecution under the ordinance — even before the DOJ sent a single letter.

That hasn’t stopped the ordinance’s lead sponsor from digging in. Alderman Alex Brower isn’t backing down, and he’s not mincing words either. He called Schimel and Shumate “right-wing fascist hacks of the Trump administration.” He said Trump’s “goons” on the U.S. Supreme Court might eventually strike the ordinance down — but for now, he’s confident the city acted appropriately. For Brower, the constitutional question is almost beside the point. “Whether or not we are allowed under the Constitution to enforce our own local ordinances, the biggest thing here is whether ICE is doing the right thing or not,” he said.

Goyke, notably, declined to comment on the letter Friday. The mayor’s office punted legal questions to him too, though a spokesperson added that some ICE agents have behaved in ways that were “inappropriate and dangerous.”

Legal precedent isn’t clearly on Milwaukee’s side, but it isn’t a clean loss either. A federal judge already blocked a similar California law barring masked federal agents — though that law, unlike Milwaukee’s, singled out federal personnel specifically rather than applying to law enforcement generally. Separately, the Ninth Circuit blocked a California mandate requiring federal immigration agents to display ID. Neither ruling settles the question for Wisconsin.

The letter doesn’t spell out what happens if Milwaukee refuses to comply by July 17. It doesn’t have to. A federal lawsuit is the obvious next move if the city holds its ground.

Sourcing note: DOJ letter dated July 10, 2026, addressed to Mayor Johnson, Council President Pérez, and City Attorney Goyke. Reporting drawn from Urban Milwaukee (Jeramey Jannene) and Wisconsin Examiner.