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Mass. senators push bill that could allow residents to sue ICE agents
Lawmakers say that the bill is part of a broader effort to push back on the Trump administration's policies.
Leaders in the Massachusetts Senate unveiled a new piece of legislation this week that would allow residents to sue federal law enforcement officers who violate their constitutional rights.
The move comes as residents continue to push leaders on Beacon Hill to do more to combat the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement agenda. The lawmakers behind the bill directly referenced the administration’s violent operation in Minnesota, saying that measures like this are necessary when the federal government refuses to hold its own officers accountable.
“Over the past few weeks, federal agents have brutalized people on the streets of Minneapolis. No police necessity can explain their excessive use of force, which has shocked and disgusted fair-minded people across the political spectrum,” Sen. William Brownsberger, a Belmont Democrat who was among those that proposed the bill, wrote in a blog post.
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Under a law from the reconstruction era, residents can already sue law enforcement officers operating under state authority for constitutional violations, such as the excessive use of force. But that law was enacted after the Civil War, when Congress was attempting to protect freed people in former slave states, Brownsberger said. It does not allow lawsuits against federal officers.
While the bill applies to local, state, and federal officers, it effectively only creates new liability for federal officers, according to Brownsberger. It preserves “qualified immunity” for officers, which protects them from civil liability except when they violate a “clearly established” statutory or constitutional right. Qualified immunity does not protect officers who use unreasonable force.
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The bill is part of the Senate’s “Response 2025” initiative, which aims to mitigate potential harm caused by the Trump administration. Alongside Brownsberger, it was backed by Sens. Cindy Friedman, Joanne Comerford, Cynthia Stone Creem, and Pavel Payano. Lawmakers say that the new bill is just one part of a larger legislative package. The Senate Committee on Steering and Policy has been conducting an ongoing review of immigrant protections, and this bill is one product of those efforts.
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“I happen to believe that it should be possible to hold federal officials accountable when they violate a person’s constitutional rights. In fact, I believe that after the tragic murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, this is more urgent than ever,” Comerford said in a statement.
Lawsuits brought under the proposed legislation could be filed in either state or federal court, but would likely finally be resolved in federal court, according to Brownsberger.
In his blog post, he lists several limitations on the bill. It does not create liability for violations of the state constitution, does not create liability for violations of federal statutes created by Congress, and it does not explicitly target immigration officers. The bill would apply equally to all federal officers, and would not interfere with federal decisions about how to use law enforcement resources.
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Despite the Trump administration’s recent moves to draw down the operation in Minnesota, efforts to conduct mass deportations are continuing unabated around the country, including in the Bay State. Leaders in the Massachusetts State House are keeping the issue front and center.
Gov. Maura Healey proposed legislation last month that would prevent ICE officers from operating in schools, places of worship, and hospitals. She also signed an executive order meant to further rein in ICE agents. Members of the Massachusetts Legislative Black and Latino Caucus are also promoting new legislation that would bar state and local police from cooperating with the federal government on matters of civil immigration enforcement, and require people who worked for ICE to disclose that they did so when applying for law enforcement jobs in Massachusetts.
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