Editor’s Note: This article has been translated into Spanish by El Eco Copy Editor Danessi Valiente. You can find the Spanish version here.
Qualified immunity for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents must end to bring justice for those wrongfully detained, abused and killed by ICE violence. ICE’s growing disregard for its own limits has cost citizens more than their own safety; it has cost them their rights.
Qualified immunity protects government officers from being held liable when they violate an individual’s rights, according to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School. Even if an agent wrongfully detains a citizen, provides no identification or uses excessive force, there is often no legal consequence.
The reality is that despite its original purpose, immigration officers are no longer staying near the border, nor strictly targeting undocumented individuals. ICE’s actions now reach into everyday communities. U.S. citizens are being harmed along the way by ICE’s inhumane arrest tactics.
According to an article by ProPublica, more than 170 American citizens have been detained by ICE, where they have reportedly been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. Patterns of racial profiling, wrongful detentions and abuse at the hands of ICE agents have stolen the dignity of these individuals.
“They’ve had their necks kneeled on and been held outside in the rain while in their underwear,” the article said. “At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them.”
These issues reflect a system that treats immigrants not as human beings but as targets. ProPublica reported that agents assumed the citizens were undocumented based on skin color, accent or birthplace. Some were locked up for days or weeks despite proof of citizenship. Others were physically assaulted or denied access to lawyers.
In January 2026, a U.S. citizen, mother and human being, Renee Good, was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Good was in her vehicle when an ICE officer standing closely in front of her car fired multiple shots, AP News said.
“The entire incident was over in less than 10 seconds,” the article said.
Following Good’s death, Vice President JD Vance claimed the ICE officer responsible was “protected by absolute immunity” at a White House press conference, as reported by CNN. The validity of the statement was quickly disputed by legal experts.
“The precedent here is very simple. You have a federal law enforcement official engaging in federal law enforcement action–that’s a federal issue. That guy is protected by absolute immunity. He was doing his job,” Vance said.
Stella Alvarez, a first-generation executive assistant and volunteer coordinator for 805UndocuFund, said seeing the current status of our nation and the issues surrounding immigration have been mind-opening to her.
“[Deportation tactics] definitely shouldn’t look like this, and it shouldn’t be removing due process and silently removing parts of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” Alvarez said. “If you have to do all that, clearly you’re doing something wrong.”
Alvarez said she frequently interacts with students at protests who have expressed fear of ICE’s actions.
“I can’t even focus on the test that I have today. I’m worried that I’m gonna come home and my grandparents are gonna be gone,” Alvarez said, in reference to students she’s talked to. “Why would I care about algebra when I don’t know if I, like, I’m gonna make it home later today.”
Lorena Muñoz, professor and chair of global studies and ethnic and race studies, associate dean of Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging for the Office of the President and Academic Affairs, and Chair of the Hispanic Leadership Committee, said she agrees with the idea that ICE instills fear among communities.
“I’ve always understood, whether it was ‘La Migra’ before or ‘ICE’ now, that it was an arm of the government that basically ruled on fear because it was through fear that it was most efficient,” Muñoz said, recalling a time during her childhood.
When a federal law enforcement agency can detain citizens without explanation, refuse to identify themselves and ignore legal requirements, the issue stops being about immigration status. It becomes about abusing power.
This raises a crucial question: Who holds ICE accountable when it breaks the rules?
According to Congressman Shri Thanedar, the current answer is no one, which is why he introduced legislation to end qualified immunity for ICE agents. Thanedar’s official website said that ending this protection is necessary to restore constitutional accountability.
“No one should be above the law, especially those entrusted with enforcing it,” Thanedar said.
The argument that ICE agents are simply doing their job ignores how drastically immigration enforcement has transformed, according to Muñoz.
“We don’t need ICE to be militarized,” Muñoz said. “We didn’t have that before, we don’t need that now. It only really causes mistrust and death and chaos.”
When anyone with a badge can act violently against a U.S. citizen, the line between law enforcement and harassment disappears. What begins with one group can quickly spread to other groups. No one is truly protected if immunity can be taken away so easily.
“Once we allow rights to be taken away from people, citizens and non-citizens, it’s really easy for other people that think that they are in a protected class, then nothing’s gonna happen to them,” Muñoz said. “That is why, I mean the unfortunate, horrible murder of both white citizens in Minneapolis really … made other people aware that nobody’s safe.”
Immigration is not just a political problem; it’s a human issue. Those being detained, profiled or killed are neighbors, classmates, coworkers and sometimes children who may not know when authorities violate their rights.
“Far from the worst-of-the-worst criminals President Donald Trump said his immigration crackdown would target, Good was a U.S. citizen born in Colorado who apparently was never charged with anything beyond a single traffic ticket,” AP News said.
If the U.S. is serious about both security and humanity, the bigger and real issue must be addressed: qualified immunity.
“Everybody needs due process, and you have a right of due process. So the way in which the current administration is empowering and militarizing ICE, it’s like a militia force of the president, right, of this particular government,” Muñoz said.
If due process is ignored, the significance of the Constitution is useless and becomes meaningless words on paper.
