1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

Lawmakers around the country – including here in New York – are considering banning masks under the guise of stopping crime. This comes as COVID-19 remains a health threat along with other diseases. - Mask bans will undermine public health and push people with disabilities and those who are immunocompromised further into society’s margins. Banning face coverings puts people's health at risk – especially people with disabilities – and it is just not workable to craft sufficient health and religious exceptions to a mask ban. We know any exceptions will not be faithfully or fairly applied. Police are not public health experts, and should never be in charge of deciding who should be allowed to mask. It is especially irresponsible to consider this during a measles outbreak and decreased vaccination rates. Immunocompromised people are already at greater risk and mask wearing is one of the few things they are able to do to keep them healthy. Additionally, new mothers and fathers who don't have parental leave and are forced back to work may want to wear masks to prevent them from carrying illnesses to their new babies. We do so little for working families, it is offensive to take away one of the last lines of defence by outlawing mask wearing. Implementing a new mask ban will inevitably be used to disproportionately police, surveil, and criminalize protestors with controversial views, ostracize people with disabilities and their loved ones, and hurt Black, Brown, and Muslim New Yorkers. I’m writing to urge you to reject any mask ban in New York. - Mask bans will invite police to engage in racial profiling. Any mask ban will inevitably be selectively enforced and weaponized against New Yorkers who are Muslim, Black, and other people of color – all of whom already face disproportionate targeting, surveillance, and abuse by police. Police should not have legal authority to arrest or ticket people who are engaged in cultural, religious, or political expression, and wearing a mask should not be a crime. We already know what happens when police officers are put on the front lines of mask enforcement. Earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, police were called on to enforce mask-wearing mandates, resulting in disproportionate enforcement against people of color and more police aggression. There is no reason to believe that enforcing mask bans would be any different. All New Yorkers should be assured of our right to wear a mask, and no one should have to fear harassment, intimidation, or arrest for trying to protect ourselves or our loved ones from illness. No one should fear that wearing a facial covering could lead to being stopped, ticketed or arrested by police. I urge you to reject any mask ban to protect New Yorkers against biased enforcement, police harassment, and to safeguard our health and privacy rights.