CALIFORNIA — Tom Steyer, a candidate for governor of California, issued a statement calling for the state to take aggressive legal action against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including the prosecution and imprisonment of ICE agents and agency leadership over alleged civil rights violations.
Steyer stated that “ICE must be abolished,” describing the agency as “acting like a criminal organization” that engages in “racial profiling,” “violence,” and “intimidation” to enforce immigration policy.
The statement emphasized that “it’s not enough … to simply engage in rhetoric,” arguing instead that “California must build a system that fights fire with fire” by using state-level legal mechanisms to directly confront ICE operations and enforcement practices.
According to Steyer, accountability should extend beyond individual officers, stating that the state should “put ICE agents and their leadership in jail for their crimes,” framing the issue as a systemic pattern of abuse of power within immigration enforcement.
Steyer proposed expanding California law to prohibit profiling based on “race, ethnicity, language, occupation, or location,” stating that “we are done letting federal badges serve as a shield for abuse in our state.” He argued that such legislation would directly challenge what he described as the core methods ICE uses to identify and detain individuals.
He further called for the use of “supervisory liability,” which would allow prosecutors to “criminally prosecute … not just the ICE agents … but the leadership directing them,” according to the statement, expanding potential accountability to higher levels of authority within federal immigration enforcement agencies.
The proposal also included the creation of a specialized investigative unit tasked with gathering evidence of misconduct, which would “collect the evidence the Attorney General can use to prosecute offenders and their leadership,” as stated in the statement. Steyer argued this would ensure that alleged abuses are properly documented and pursued through the legal system rather than left unaddressed.
Addressing detention conditions, Steyer claimed individuals have been “imprisoned without due process,” emphasizing the importance of expanding access to legal representation. He cited data showing that “62 percent of immigrants without a lawyer are ordered deported, compared to 27 percent” of those who do have legal assistance, highlighting what he described as a major disparity in immigration court outcomes.
He argued that increasing access to legal defense would not only improve fairness in immigration proceedings but also allow detainees to “report ICE’s crimes … and take the agents to court,” reinforcing broader calls for transparency, oversight and accountability within the detention system.
Steyer also proposed a statewide public education campaign, stating that “every Californian … should know their constitutional and legal rights” when interacting with ICE agents or witnessing enforcement actions. The goal, according to the statement, is to increase awareness of rights during stops, detention, protests and surveillance encounters involving immigration enforcement.
Referencing legal precedent, Steyer wrote that “there is a solid legal foundation” for California to expand protections and prosecute ICE agents, adding that “states can and should prosecute ICE agents for breaking their laws,” positioning his argument within broader debates over state versus federal authority in enforcement practices.
He further asserted that “Trump has turned ICE into a criminal enterprise,” arguing that California should respond by treating the agency similarly to organized crime networks and using state legal tools to “bring them to justice by using their most basic crimes against them,” such as alleged racial discrimination in enforcement.
Concluding, Steyer framed the issue as a responsibility of state government to intervene where he argued federal systems have failed, stating that California must act to protect its residents and ensure accountability. He emphasized that “in California, you obey our laws and respect our residents, or you go to jail,” reinforcing the central argument that enforcement and prosecution should be expanded at the state level.
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