patriotspotlight.org — A billionaire progressive in California openly called for jailing federal immigration officers, turning law and order on its head and daring the rest of the country to “watch” as he targets the very agents protecting our borders.[1][2][3]
Story Snapshot
- Tom Steyer vowed as California governor to “arrest and prosecute” federal immigration agents, calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a “criminal organization.”[1][2][3]
- His plan relies on state laws and a friendly federal court ruling to justify putting federal officers and their leadership in jail.[1][3]
- The campaign provides fiery rhetoric but no incident-level proof that specific agents committed prosecutable crimes.[1][2][3]
- The clash highlights a broader left-wing strategy: criminalize federal enforcement while shielding illegal immigration and undermining constitutional limits on state power.[1][2][3]
Steyer’s Promise: Put Federal Agents Behind Bars
California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer built his campaign around a sweeping promise: he would seek to “abolish ICE” and use state power to arrest and prosecute federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and their leadership.[1][3] His campaign press materials and issue page describe ICE as a “criminal organization” that “terrorizes” Californians and allegedly brutalizes and kidnaps people under the guise of immigration enforcement.[1][3] In interviews and online clips, he repeats that ICE is “criminal” and insists agents should be prosecuted for racial profiling and other supposed abuses.[2][3]
The language is not cautious or limited; it is designed to paint federal officers as organized criminals rather than public servants enforcing federal law.[1][3] Steyer’s messaging compares the strategy for dealing with ICE to how authorities “took on the mob,” explicitly framing immigration officers as a violent extremist group that must be dismantled using handcuffs and prison sentences.[1] For many conservatives, especially those who see border security as essential to sovereignty and public safety, hearing a would‑be governor talk about jailing federal agents for doing their jobs confirms how far the activist left is willing to go.[1][2][3]
The Legal Blueprint: Using State Laws Against Federal Authority
Steyer’s plan lays out a five‑point blueprint for turning California’s legal machinery against federal agents, starting with new state legislation banning racial and ethnic profiling by any law enforcement agency operating in the state.[1][3] He argues that by drafting these laws to apply equally to local police and federal officers, California can regulate Immigration and Customs Enforcement conduct without running afoul of federal preemption, citing a 2026 federal district court decision, United States v. California, that he says allows such regulation.[1] He claims this gives the state “a solid legal foundation” to prosecute agents who allegedly violate state civil‑rights protections.[1]
Beyond statutes, Steyer proposes empowering the California Attorney General with explicit authority to pursue “supervisory liability” so that not only individual agents but also Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership could face criminal charges for alleged violence or abuses committed in the field.[1] His written plan calls for a special investigative unit dedicated to collecting evidence on federal officers, monitoring detention facilities, and funneling cases to state prosecutors.[1] He also urges massive funding for immigration legal defense, arguing that more lawyers and advocates will help detainees document claims against agents and “take them to court.”[1][3] Each step is designed to normalize the idea that federal immigration enforcement can be treated like a local crime ring.
Rhetoric Versus Evidence: Where the Case Falls Apart
Despite the aggressive accusations, Steyer’s own materials reveal a major gap between rhetoric and proof: they do not name specific agents, identify dates or locations, or outline concrete criminal charges tied to particular incidents.[1][3] His campaign press release and issue page accuse Immigration and Customs Enforcement of kidnapping, brutality, and illegal attacks, but they are advocacy pieces, not legal filings supported by sworn testimony, body‑camera footage, or court findings against individual officers.[1][3] The claim that ICE is a “criminal organization” is a political label in the campaign text, not a status conferred by a judge or grand jury.[3]
Steyer leans heavily on a July 2025 ruling in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, which he says found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were “demonstrably engaging” in racial and ethnic profiling.[3] Yet his public framework does not show that this civil finding, even if accurately described, translates into viable criminal cases against particular agents under state law.[1][3] There is no accompanying legal memorandum in the available record explaining how California would overcome federal supremacy, official immunity, and removal of cases to federal court to secure state criminal convictions against on‑duty federal officers.[1] For a conservative audience used to seeing federal agents blamed for simply enforcing the law, this looks less like justice and more like political theater turned into a legal threat.
What This Fight Reveals About the Left’s Agenda
The Steyer proposal fits a broader pattern in modern politics, where activists label law‑enforcement agencies “rogue,” “criminal,” or “secret police” to transform policy disagreements into moral showdowns.[1][2][3] In the immigration context, this strategy targets the very people charged with carrying out federal law, turning officers on the ground into the villains while politicians who oppose border enforcement claim the mantle of “rights” and “justice.”[1][3] By promising to arrest immigration agents, Steyer signals to the progressive base that California will function as a sanctuary not only for illegal immigrants but also as an adversary to federal authority itself.[1][3]
Tom Steyer: “We should abolish ICE, it’s a criminal organization. We should be prosecuting ICE agents for racial profiling, for committing violence against Californians.”pic.twitter.com/wK1MeaDWU9
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) May 26, 2026
For conservatives, that posture carries serious implications for the Constitution and for everyday security. If one deep‑blue state can threaten federal officers with jail for enforcing immigration law, it invites a patchwork where federal authority is respected or sabotaged depending on which party runs a statehouse.[1][3] Law‑abiding citizens who expect their government to secure the border are effectively told that their protectors could be treated like criminals the moment they cross into a hostile jurisdiction. The Steyer episode is a warning of how far the most ideological voices on the left are prepared to go to undermine immigration enforcement, even if the legal footing is thin and the evidence against individual agents remains largely unsubstantiated.[1][2][3]
Sources:
[1] Web – In New Ad, Steyer Calls to Abolish ICE and Prosecute Agents
[2] YouTube – ICE Is ‘Criminal’ – California Governor Candidate Tom Steyer
[3] Web – Stop ICE from terrorizing Californians | Tom Steyer for Governor
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