How Democrats Can End Qualified Immunity for ICE Agents

Democrats have a rare moment of leverage to pass legislation ending qualified immunity for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, dismantling a legal shield that has allowed them to evade accountability for murder.

By David Sirota, Jacobin

Senate Democrats are right now formulating a list of conditions they say must be fulfilled for them to consider providing votes for more funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). One of those items could be Democratic legislation that is already written and introduced in Congress: a bill to end qualified immunity for ICE agents, so that communities can hold those agents legally accountable when they murder people.

Days after ICE killed Renee Good, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) tweeted out Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller on Fox News declaring, “To all ICE officers: You have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties.”

DHS and Miller were referring to qualified immunity, which the National Lawyers Guild notes “is a legal doctrine created by the U.S. Supreme Court that protects public officials, including police officers, immigration officers, and immigration detention center staff from civil liability for constitutional and statutory violations.”