Padilla, Blumenthal Introduce Bill to Provide Victims of Abuse by Federal Law Enforcement the Right to Sue

Amid troubling pattern of violence by ICE and CBP officers, federal law provides no statutory right to sue federal law enforcement for violating constitutional rights

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As the Trump Administration conducts widespread and indiscriminate immigration enforcement operations in cities across the country, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced the Accountability for Federal Law Enforcement Act to allow individuals - regardless of citizenship - the right to sue federal law enforcement officers and agencies in civil court for violations of their civil and constitutional rights.

Under current law, individuals can sue state and local officers for constitutional violations, but there is no comparable statutory right to sue federal officers for doing the same. While the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents allowed some lawsuits against federal officers, courts have repeatedly narrowed that ruling, leaving many victims of federal misconduct without meaningful recourse.

Federal agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have recently expanded their sweeping enforcement raids into cities like Charlotte, North Carolina and New Orleans, Louisiana, continuing a troubling pattern of violence and excessive force seen in Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, and other American cities. These abuses show how easily federal officers can act with impunity when there are no effective avenues to hold them accountable, eroding public trust and weakening the basic principles of constitutional accountability.

"For months, ICE and CBP officers have terrorized communities across the country, deploying violent and excessive tactics against immigrants, U.S. citizens, journalists, and bystanders alike with no accountability. These abuses of individuals' constitutional rights without consequence shatter public trust and stoke fear among hardworking members of our communities," said Senator Padilla. "By ensuring every individual, regardless of citizenship, can sue federal law enforcement when their constitutional rights are violated, this bill reaffirms that the rule of law applies equally to all - including those who enforce it."

"In a democracy, the government is accountable to the people. Last week, we heard directly from five American citizens whose constitutional rights were flagrantly violated when they were illegally detained for hours - sometimes days - and some of whom were violently assaulted by federal agents. The brave witnesses at our forum represent hundreds, even thousands, more who have been abused and mistreated by federal immigration agents and who deserve their day in court. This legislation is immediately necessary - to hold officers and agencies accountable for violations of civil rights, and to prevent these kinds of violent abuses in the future," said Senator Blumenthal.

The Accountability for Federal Law Enforcement Act is cosponsored by Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore).

"Federal officials should not be allowed to violate someone's constitutional rights with impunity, and one of the best ways to prevent that is to hold accountable the agencies responsible for those officials' conduct," said Senator Whitehouse, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee. "Our legislation ensures that individuals targeted by this or any other Administration have access to justice in an honest courtroom."

"Donald Trump is throwing due process and constitutional rights out the window in his rush to dehumanize and deport immigrants who are living peacefully in the United States. As ICE and CBP follow Trump's marching orders, people must have the tools needed to stop this administration from carrying out its cruel and inhumane mass deportation agenda. I support restoring due process rights by giving people the right to sue law enforcement agencies for carrying out Trump's authoritarian fever dream," said Senator Wyden.

"Federal law enforcement officers, like their state and local counterparts, take an oath to uphold the Constitution and the rights of the people they serve. When they violate that oath, those who have been harmed must be able to seek accountability. Yet decades of judicial precedent have narrowed individuals' ability to recover monetary damages when federal law enforcement violates their constitutional rights," said Senator Booker. "This bill ensures Americans hold federal law enforcement accountable just as they can state and local officers. At a time when federal forces have expanded by the tens of thousands, and incidents of excessive force by federal officers are occurring daily in streets across the country, Americans cannot be barred from seeking justice in the courts. Congress must pass this bill to correct this court-created flaw in the law."

The Accountability for Federal Law Enforcement Act would close the loophole in accountability for federal officers by:

• Creating a statutory right of action allowing individuals, regardless of citizenship, to seek damages for civil rights violations committed by federal law enforcement officers;

• Amending 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to include federal law enforcement agencies ("public employers") alongside state and local actors;

• Allowing suits against federal agencies when their employees violate constitutional rights, regardless of whether an agency policy caused the harm, and waiving sovereign immunity for these claims to ensure victims have access to redress in federal court;

• Preserving existing defenses for individual officers, leaving the qualified immunity doctrine unchanged.

The bill is endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Brennan Center.

Senator Padilla has been a leading voice in opposition to President Trump's cruel and indiscriminate mass deportation agenda, including against his unprecedented, illegal militarization of Los Angeles and other American cities. In October, Padilla walked out of Senate Republicans' unserious subcommittee hearing entitled "ICE Under Fire: The Radical Left's Crusade Against Immigration Enforcement," as the Trump Administration conducts violent immigration enforcement actions across the country. Last week, Padilla denounced the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) unlawful arrests of U.S. citizens during Senator Blumenthal's bicameral spotlight forum, which included three U.S. citizens from California whom DHS arrested or detained. Additionally, Padilla and Senator Booker recently demanded answers from DHS leadership on the hiring standards and training protocols for newly hired ICE agents. In July, Padilla and Senator Booker introduced the VISIBLE Act to require immigration enforcement officers to display clearly visible identification during public-facing enforcement actions.

A one-pager on the bill is available here.

Full text of the bill is available here.

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