U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is proposing legislation that would create an independent watchdog to enforce reforms at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, and to rein in possible illegal actions by these federal employees.
The Massachusetts Democrat filed the ICE Accountability Act last Thursday with Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware. If approved by Congress, the act would create what Warren says would be the strongest federal oversight body.
Warren cites the recent killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis by ICE agents, working under the Department of Homeland Security, as highlighting the need for this legislation.
“After the Trump administration’s immigration agents shot and killed U.S. citizens, the American people are demanding accountability,” Warren said. “This new bill will create the toughest independent watchdog to immediately rein in ICE’s terror and report directly to Congress.”
The bill filing came on the same day that Tom Homan, the Trump administration border czar, said an immigration crackdown on Minnesota is ending after two months. The operation, which the Department of Homeland Security called its “largest immigration enforcement operation ever, ” has been a flashpoint in the debate over President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
The ICE operation that focused on the Minneapolis-St. Paul area resulted in more than 4,000 arrests, Homan said, touting it as a success.
“The surge is leaving Minnesota safer,” he said. “I’ll say it again, it’s less of a sanctuary state for criminals.”
In an announcement outlining the ICE Accountability Act, Warren also cites enforcement operations using tear gas on children, stopping people on the streets based on their race and breaking down the front doors of homes without judicial warrants as reasons to not support allocating any more money for ICE until rapid, independent oversight and enforcement is in place.
“The Senate must act now to stop ICE’s violence, and any new constraints on DHS funding must have serious teeth like this new independent monitor to enforce the law,” Warren said.
Coons said he has been horrified watching the terror that has been unleashed by masked agents in the killing of peaceful protesters.
“By creating a strong, independent commission to oversee ICE and CBP, our bill is the next step toward ensuring American immigration enforcement abides by the laws and values of our country,” said Coons, who co-chairs the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus. “As we’ve seen in communities nationwide, independent oversight commissions for law enforcement work, and it’s just common sense that those enforcing our immigration laws should meet the same standards.”
The ICE Accountability Act includes several initiatives aimed at improving oversight of federal agents. These include:
- establishing an ICE/ CBP monitoring commission that sits in the legislative branch, reports directly to Congress, and is fully independent of the president and the executive branch. Its executive director would lead staff in monitoring ICE activities;
- giving the watchdog “golden key” access to Department of Homeland Security’s immigration operations, such as the ability to conduct on-the-ground monitoring through ride-alongs with agents and visits to detention facilities, and reviews of body camera footage and citizen complaints;
- requiring prompt public reporting to maximize transparency, with the monitor issuing monthly reports, holding public hearings and maintaining a public website that contains reports, data on ICE/ CBP operations, civilian complaint information and recommended reforms;
- allowing monitors to pursue enforcement upon finding serious or willful violations by seeking court-ordered remedies and referring criminal matters to prosecutors.
Similar enforcement mechanisms are in place in Chicago, Baltimore and Cleveland, and there have been appeals locally for such policies.
Residents in Amherst, for instance, are hoping to bring forward a resolution to the Town Council that will ask for federal immigration agents to be held accountable for violations of state criminal law; to have investigations into incidents in which masked ICE agents attack, unlawfully discriminate and violate constitutional rights; and, when appropriate, to initiate criminal charges.
Warren’s bill is being endorsed by the American Immigration Council, whose Policy Director Nayna Gupta said in a statement that the American public no longer trusts the Department of Homeland Security to police itself, after the Trump administration gutted internal accountability while also trying to prevent Congress from using its oversight powers.
“That’s why we support an independent commission with a mandate to investigate misconduct, inform the public about serious violations of law and policy, and real power to make sure our government is following the law,” Gupta said.
Also supporting the bill are the National Immigration Law Center, Human Rights First and the Project On Government Oversight.
Margo Schlanger, a former head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, observes that civil rights abuses by immigration enforcement agents are an affront to American values and the rule of law.
“The ICE Accountability Act would allow Congress and the public to keep strict watch, documenting and deterring misconduct,” said Schlanger, a University of Michigan law professor. “We need this reform.”
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.