Lawmakers in multiple Democratic-led states are racing to pass legislation that would allow residents to sue federal agents who violate their constitutional rights, responding to what they describe as the Trump administration’s message that immigration officers can act with impunity.
The proposals in California, New York and Maryland would extend protections that Americans already have against state and local law enforcement to cover federal officers as well. Under existing civil rights law — Section 1983 — citizens can sue state and local officers for constitutional violations. But suing individual federal officers, including immigration agents, is effectively impossible.
The expanded push follows the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer — and the administration’s defense of her killing. Following Good’s death, Vice President JD Vance stood at the podium in the White House briefing room and said that federal officials, including the ICE officer who shot Good, are “protected by absolute immunity.” Days later, the Department of Homeland Security posted a video to social media in which White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller asserted that ICE officers “have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties.”
Those declarations, civil rights lawyers and state legislators told MS NOW, send a clear message from the Trump administration that aggressive use of force, even violence against Americans, is okay, and federal agents need not worry about accountability.
“These statements give ICE agents permission to engage in extreme behavior, violate people’s rights and have no concern about consequences,” state Sen. Scott Wiener of California told MS NOW. “They pour lighter fluid over an already toxic situation and absolutely lead to violence.”
Before Good’s killing, lawmakers in Democratic-led states began introducing bills to create a direct pathway for citizens to sue federal officials for violations of constitutional rights. Now, after Good’s killing, state legislators are rushing to enact those changes — changes that they say may ultimately provide the only accountability federal immigration agents ever face. Minnesota lawmakers are also actively crafting bill language this week and one is expected to come out soon.
“It is up to the states to step up in this moment,” said state Senator Zellnor Myrie of New York, a Democrat who represents part of Brooklyn. “People are recognizing just how extreme and how much latitude our federal agents and officials have.”
The bills take language and substance from the existing statute, simply expanding it to include federal officials. They would cover Fourth Amendment violations like unlawful searches, unreasonable seizures at checkpoints without warrants or probable cause, and excessive force during arrests.
“It closes a loophole that currently allows federal officers to break the law with impunity,” said New York state Assemblywoman Gabriella Romero.
In a statement to MS NOW, a spokesperson for DHS said that ICE agents were under threat and reiterated the department’s stance on legal recourse. “Our law enforcement officers have immunity to perform their duties, and no one — no city official, no state official, no illegal alien, no leftist agitator or domestic terrorist — can prevent our officers from fulfilling their legal obligations and duties,” the spokesperson said. “The Department of Justice has made clear that if officials cross that line into obstruction, into criminal conspiracy against the United States or against ICE officers, then they will face justice.”
State Delegate Lorig Charkoudian of Maryland, who plans to introduce similar legislation this week, said Trump is sending a message to federal immigration agents to “unleash absolute brutality.” She predicted that “across the country, as legislative sessions open, you’re going to see more and more of this kind of legislation introduced.”
The Trump administration has already challenged a narrower Chicago law that allows Illinois residents to sue only federal immigration agents for arrests near courthouses or for specific constitutional violations. But the other states’ proposals cover all federal officials, making it more likely they could survive expected legal challenges from the administration, according to lawyers who’ve advised local lawmakers on the bills. “A lot of people are realizing the two-tiered system of justice we have right now,” said Cameron Kistler, legal counsel for the nonprofit Protect Democracy. The ability to sue for damages, he added, should depend on whether an officer violated the Constitution, “not what badge they’re carrying when they shoot” someone. Despite the administration’s claims, federal officers do not have absolute immunity. Steve Vladeck, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown, wrote that Miller’s statement was “wrong on its face.” “The federal government absolutely retains the ability to prosecute federal law enforcement officers who break the law, even in the course of carrying out their duties,” Vladeck wrote. Such criminal prosecution, he added, is a primary federal argument for why civil lawsuits should not be allowed. But the Justice Department has shown no interest in prosecuting immigration officers. This week, six officials resigned from the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division over its refusal to investigate the officer who shot Good. In Minnesota, six career prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office quit over the department’s push to investigate Good’s widow instead. Anya Bidwell, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, said bills like New York’s and California’s are straightforward attempts to close the accountability gap. Ultimately, she said, it is Congress’s responsibility to fix the problem it created when it excluded federal officials from the statute. “We’ve got no time to wait for Congress,” said Bidwell, who represents American citizens who have accused immigration agents of constitutional violations. “Renee Good’s killing plainly demonstrates that it is now a responsibility of every state to protect those who live there. If Congress can’t do it, states must step in and provide their residents with the right to haul their tormentors into court and try to obtain some justice.”
Laura Barrón-López covers the White House for MS NOW. Recommended
