California launched an online portal on Wednesday for the public to report “potentially unlawful” operations carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal officers.
The development marks the latest tactic state Democrats are using to combat the Trump administration’s efforts to arrest suspected illegal immigrants in California. Officials such as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Attorney General Rob Bonta, who announced the portal this week, have repeatedly accused the White House of abusing executive powers and blurring the line between state and federal authorities to carry out deportation operations.
“We’re not going to stand by while anyone — including federal agents — abuses their authority in California,” Newsom said in a statement heralding the new portal as affording “Californians an easy and safe way to speak up, share what they see, and help us hold people accountable.”
“No one is above the law,” the California governor added.
The public can upload documentation, including videos or photos, to the portal to report possibly unlawful activity by ICE, as well as other federal officers involved in deportation efforts, such as National Guard troops and Customs and Border Protection officers.
“Examples of potentially unlawful activity by federal law enforcement agents include use of excessive force, unlawful searches or arrests, wrongful detentions, interference with voting, or other civil-rights violations,” reads a press release from Bonta’s office.
The portal comes after Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) pledged in October to launch a website tracking ICE’s activity specifically in Los Angeles, where county officials passed an ordinance on Tuesday stating that federal officers conducting immigration operations cannot cover their faces with masks. Additionally, they must identify themselves during a raid or face criminal charges.
California has led a series of similar efforts in recent months to push back against President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, particularly through two bills Newsom signed into law over the fall.
The Justice Department is challenging the implementation of the No Secret Police Act, which bans most federal, local, and out-of-state law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings, and the No Vigilantes Act, which requires most law enforcement to display clear identification. The laws threaten “officers with prosecution for simply protecting their identities and their families unfairly legalizes the doxxing of ICE agents and other officers, “chills the enforcement of federal law, and compromises sensitive law enforcement operations,” the Trump administration argued, citing data showing attacks on ICE are up by over 1,150%.
Critics in California believe enhanced scrutiny over ICE is needed due to allegations that the federal government is trampling rights to due process and racially profiling in order to carry out arrests, among other concerns.
Others, including at the CATO Institute, have accused the Trump administration of frequently targeting those in the country illegally without a criminal history. This week, CATO published data it said came from the federal government showing that 71% of ICE arrests from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15 had no criminal convictions and that 45% of ICE arrests in October had no criminal convictions or pending charges.
When pressed on the numbers, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, told the Washington Examiner that “70% of illegal aliens ICE arrested across the country have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges just in the U.S.”
“This statistic doesn’t account for those wanted for violent crimes in their home country or another country, INTERPOL notices, human rights abusers, gang members, terrorists, etc. The list goes on,” said Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “DHS is targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens—including murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles, and terrorists.”
Bonta argued otherwise.
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“The Trump Administration is engaging in a campaign of terror and fear that has left some California communities scared to go about their daily lives,” he said Wednesday.
“From unmarked military-style vehicles to detainments that more closely resemble kidnappings, Californians are rightly concerned that federal agents may be crossing the line and abusing their authority,” he added. “Let me be clear: Federal agents can enforce federal laws, and no one should interfere with them doing their job. But they must also do so lawfully and in compliance with the Constitution.”
