While all eyes were focused on the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the Trump administration scored a victory in one of the lower courts, as U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne granted the Department of Justice's (DOJ) motion for a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit challenging Virginia's new Mask/Identity statute.
The brief, three-page order issued by Payne on Tuesday temporarily blocks Virginia from enforcing the new statute against federal immigration officers while the case proceeds.
BREAKING: Federal judge Robert Payne has just issued a preliminary injunction that blocks Virginia from enforcing its new law that bans ICE agents from wearing masks on the job. Judge Payne writes that VA’s law likely violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by… pic.twitter.com/yHzox7vxkJ
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 30, 2026
BREAKING: Federal judge Robert Payne has just issued a preliminary injunction that blocks Virginia from enforcing its new law that bans ICE agents from wearing masks on the job. Judge Payne writes that VA’s law likely violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by trying to regulate the conduct of federal law enforcement. The law was set to take effect tomorrow.
California’s unmasking law was recently struck down for the same reason.
VA is now blocked from enforcing their unmasking law while the underlying merits of the case play out, as the judge finds the DOJ is likely to succeed on the merits of their argument.
ALSO SEE: See You in Court: DOJ Coming After Spanberger Over Virginia's 'Unconstitutional' Anti-ICE Laws
DOJ Sues Dem Governor Over State Law Preventing LEOs, ICE Agents From Masking Up
Here's how we got here:
Virginia recently enacted Va. Code § 19.2-83.6:1 (the Mask/Identity Statute), which generally bars law enforcement officers from wearing masks to conceal their identities while on duty and requires them to display identifying information, including when carrying out immigration enforcement.
The DOJ sued, arguing that the law unlawfully regulates federal immigration officers while they're carrying out federal duties and contending that states cannot interfere with federal immigration enforcement.
Judge Payne found that the administration satisfied all four preliminary-injunction requirements. First, he found that DOJ is likely to prevail because the Virginia law directly regulates federal officers enforcing immigration law and likely violates both the doctrine of intergovernmental immunity and the Constitution's Supremacy Clause.
Next, he found that the U.S. is likely to suffer irreparable injury absent the preliminary relief because the law interferes with federal immigration enforcement and could expose federal officers to a real risk of physical harm while carrying out their immigration duties. Additionally, Payne found that the public interest and balance of the equities weigh in favor of the injunction.
While this is a win for the administration, it's important to note that this decision does not strike down the law; this is a procedural decision, merely prohibiting Virginia from enforcing the new law while the case proceeds through litigation.
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