Bills in multiple states aim to shut out ex-ICE agents from public-sector jobs
State legislatures across the country are churning out proposals to limit what Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents can do on the job. But some lawmakers are taking it even further, looking to prevent agents from taking on other government jobs once their time with ICE is over.
Two state lawmakers, one in California and another in Illinois, are promoting legislation that would bar ICE agents from getting hired at the state, county or local levels. Representatives of federal law enforcement agencies criticize the bills as discriminatory political stunts.
California’s expansive ban
California’s bill is much broader than its Illinois counterpart. It would also ban ICE agents from becoming teachers or other school faculty, as well as from working for jails or prisons in the state.
Assemblymember Anamarie Ávila Farías, D-Martinez, introduced AB 1627 last month. It would disqualify ICE agents hired between Sept. 1, 2025, and Jan. 20, 2029, as well as officers with the Alabama Department of Corrections or the Georgia Department of Corrections hired between Jan. 1, 2020, and Jan. 1, 2026.
Avila-Farias notes in her bill that the Alabama Department of Corrections and the Georgia Department of Corrections have both been accused of “systemic abuses” in recent years that rise to the level of constitutional violations by the Department of Justice. The Justice Department found in 2020 that the Alabama men’s prison system routinely used excessive force against prisoners. In 2024, the department found that Georgia’s correctional facilities violated the Eighth Amendment’s cruel and unusual punishment clause.
“California peace officers and teachers must be guardians of constitutional rights, not participants in their erosion,” she said in a statement.
The state boards of corrections and education would be tasked with investigating whether an applicant has worked for one of these agencies. Finding one on their resume would immediately disqualify them. It’s unclear how the state would parse an ICE field agent from an IT professional who works for the agency, for instance.
Illinois’ narrower ICE ban
Illinois Sen. Laura Fine, D-Glenview, took a narrower tack but with the same goal.
SB 2820 would specifically bar any police departments in Illinois from hiring anyone who was employed by ICE as a federal immigration officer between Jan. 20, 2025, and Jan. 20, 2029, dates that coincide with President Donald Trump’s second term.
Fine shared similar sentiments as Ávila Farías about the morality of allowing ICE officers to serve as local law enforcement, but also justified the ban based on loosened training requirements put in place by the Trump administration.
“Prior to the Trump administration, ICE agents received an average of 16 weeks of training. Now, that average has dropped to 47 days,” Fine said in a release. “Our state and local law enforcement in Illinois receive extensive training and hold themselves to a high standard.”
‘Political stunt’
Representatives from the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) and the National ICE Officers Association failed to respond to requests by Straight Arrow News by the time of publication.
PORAC told Fox 11 in Los Angeles that the bill is “unnecessary, duplicative and it jeopardizes qualified immunity for California employees.”
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told WAND News in Decatur, Illinois, that Fine’s proposal casts federal law enforcement as villains at a time when they’re being targeted at unprecedented levels.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
