California prosecutors push back on ICE’s fantasy of consequence-free violence
Claims of absolute immunity from the law for DHS thugs abusing citizens and immigrants are as illegitimate as they sound.
Claims of absolute immunity from the law for DHS thugs abusing citizens and immigrants are as illegitimate as they sound.
California prosecutors dispute the claims, from JD Vance on down, that ICE agents are immune to the law. State officials are making it clear they intend to prosecute abuses, and that agents don’t get to kill or brutalize civilians because they are “federal.”
In interviews with KQED, state and local prosecutors vowed to investigate and, if necessary, prosecute federal agents who act illegally in California. But they acknowledged that those probes would be difficult to undertake without federal cooperation.
“Despite what Vice President Vance has irresponsibly and erroneously said …There’s no such thing as absolute immunity,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, said. “Of course, there can be criminal liability for an ICE agent who commits a crime. ICE agents do not have carte blanche and license to kill and commit crimes and assaults and batter and rape and murder Americans. That’s what JD Vance is saying.”
Invoked in the wake of lethal force and fatal encounters, claims of immunity are not legitimate, and California Attorney General Robert Bonta intends to pursue any instances that take place in his state. Without the cooperation of the Feds, however, it’ll be hard for him to make any headway. Supremacy clause arguments and a hostile Department of Justice will throw sand in the gears of any prosecution, or even grind it to a halt.