This past weekend, the country witnessed yet another senseless killing by a masked federal agent.
In Minneapolis, ICU nurse Alex Pretti – like elementary school parent and poet Renee Good before him – was trying to protect his neighbors when he was attacked and shot 10 times by federal officers.
These deaths – and the federal government’s refusal to conduct independent investigations or even share evidence with local authorities – expose a growing and dangerous reality: as federal immigration operations have escalated nationwide, accountability has collapsed, with officers committing egregious violations of the United States Constitution with impunity.
Federal agents have tear gassed peaceful protestors, detained individuals – including U.S. citizens – in horrific conditions, arrested children, assaulted the elderly, and threatened bystanders exercising basic First Amendment rights. According to recent reports, some ICE agents were even being trained to forcibly enter homes without warrants signed by judges – a blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment.
If it feels like some of these federal agents act like the Constitution doesn’t apply to them, it’s because, in most cases, it doesn’t – at least not in a way that allows victims meaningful recourse. We’re fighting to fix that dangerous loophole in California by passing the No Kings Act (Senate Bill 747), authored by State Senator Scott Wiener.
Under current law, if a state or local officer violates someone’s constitutional rights, the victim can sue for damages. But a series of Supreme Court decisions has stripped away that same remedy for federal officers, even for intentional, blatantly unconstitutional conduct.
Accountability should not depend on the badge an officer wears. The No Kings Act allows Californians to seek damages when any government officer – federal, state, or local – violates clearly established constitutional rights.
SB 747 does not create new rights, nor does it eliminate qualified immunity for any law enforcement officer. It simply enforces existing constitutional guarantees and ensures that federal officials are subject to the same constitutional limits as everyone else.
This is not just about immigration policy. It’s an issue of public safety.
When people see masked, unidentified federal agents forcibly entering homes, abducting community members, detaining U.S. citizens, and ripping families apart – all without consequence – trust in the justice system collapses. And when trust collapses, we are all less safe. People stop reporting crimes, cooperating with investigations, and seeking help.
We’ve seen this before. At the height of large-scale immigration raids in Los Angeles last summer, emergency calls to the Los Angeles Police Department plummeted. Fear and lawlessness do not make our communities safer – they make everyone more vulnerable, including law enforcement.
That’s why accountability is pro-law enforcement, pro-public safety, and pro-democracy.
The Constitution is clear: federal officials do not receive blanket immunity from state law. They are protected only when acting within lawful federal authority – and unconstitutional conduct is never lawful.
California’s No Kings Act reflects that basic principle, and this week, the state Senate passed SB 747 – becoming the first legislative body in the country to ever pass this type of law. But it won’t be the last. Across the country, lawmakers from New York to Virginia to Colorado and beyond are advancing similar bills. They recognize the same urgent problem: we must have ways to hold all officials accountable, including federal agents.
No one is above the Constitution, and as the No Kings Act moves to the Assembly, it deserves broad, bipartisan support. If our leaders and law enforcement officers swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, it should not be controversial for there to be consequences when they violate it.
Cristine Soto DeBerry is the executive director of Prosecutors Alliance Action, one of the co-sponsors of Senate Bill 747.
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