Mass. senators push bill that could allow residents to sue ICE agents

"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."

"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."

Massachusetts Senate leaders introduced legislation allowing residents to sue federal law enforcement officers for constitutional violations. The proposal responds to aggressive immigration enforcement and cites violent federal operations in Minneapolis as a catalyst. Existing reconstruction-era law permits suits only against officers acting under state authority and does not cover federal officers. The new measure applies to local, state, and federal officers but effectively establishes new liability for federal agents. The proposal preserves qualified immunity except where officers violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights and makes clear that unreasonable use of force is not protected. The initiative is called Response 2025.

Read at Boston.com