“During negotiations on DHS funding, Democrats must prioritize giving power to the people to protect their rights.”
“People should be allowed to sue ICE agents for violating their rights and killing their loved ones. Period.”
Pressley Legislation Would Hold Federal Law Enforcement Officers Accountable for Breaking the Law and Killing Our Neighbors
WASHINGTON – During Oversight Democrats’ bicameral shadow hearing on the use of violence by ICE held yesterday, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley demanded Congress end qualified immunity to ensure federal law enforcement officers are held accountable for breaking the law and murdering civilians. Rep. Pressley called on her colleagues not to settle for bare minimum reforms in funding negotiations for the Department of Homeland Security, instead urging them to fight to rebalance power and restore accountability.
Rep. Pressley highlighted the urgency of the moment by uplifting stories of traumatized community members she met with during her trip to Minnesota with Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05), many of whom deserve accountability for ICE agents violating their rights or killing their loved ones.
Rep. Pressley leads the Qualified Immunity Abolition Act, which would grant victims the right to sue federal law enforcement officers—not just state and local—for civil rights violations by abolishing the defense of qualified immunity in these lawsuits.
A transcript of Congresswoman Pressley’s remarks at the shadow hearing is available below, and the video is available here.
Transcript: Pressley Urges Congress End Qualified Immunity, Demands Accountability for Families of Loved Ones Killed by ICE
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
February 3, 2026
REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY: Last week, I traveled to Minneapolis at the invitation of my sister-in-service and by bond, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, to the Minnesota Fifth, a district that I’ve been to many times doing justice work.
I went to bear witness to the trauma that so many communities are being forced to endure.
I met residents who have watched rogue masked agents detain, deport, and even kill their neighbors in broad daylight. In cold blood. Without due process. Without care for what their violence leaves behind.
Public executions. Public terror.
Five-year-olds are being detained. I’m thinking of Liam Ramos, a five-year-old child held in detention for a week, and the over 3,000 other children whose names we don’t know, who remain in detention centers across the country.
I’m thinking of his classmates who wrote letters to ICE agents, pleading – pleading – for mercy, appealing to whatever humanity they hoped still existed.
I will not accept a system that rips children from safety in the name of quote-unquote law and order.
This is trauma. And the witnesses here today live with it.
I so look forward to a day when people do not have to relive and weaponize their trauma in order to compel action from their government. But I’m grateful to those who bare their heart for the good of humanity.
Each of you have shown immense courage, and it is time for Democrats to show that same courage and fight against fascism.
As we negotiate funding for DHS, we have a real opportunity to do more than express concern. We have the chance to reject this campaign of terror, and we have a responsibility to do so.
As Democrats, we can say we give a damn, but that is not enough that we refuse to act with courage.
Requiring agents to remove masks or obtain warrants before entering homes is important, but let’s be honest—that is the bare minimum.
We can’t leave power in the hands of bad actors to decide whether or not to follow the law. We can’t make demands of people like Trump and Noem and then hope that they willingly comply.
Our Constitution doesn’t rely on good faith—it demands checks and balances.
If we want real change, we must check this Administration and rebalance power in the hands of the people, where it belongs.
Here is a simple fact: People should be allowed to sue ICE agents for violating their rights and killing their loved ones. Period.
That should not be controversial for Democrats, Republicans, independents or anyone. But there are barriers in the way.
Congress must remove these barriers with a two-step legislative fix.
Step one: we need to close the loophole.
There is currently a loophole in the law that prevents federal officials from being sued under Section 1983, which is a civil rights law protecting constitutional rights. If victims of violence can sue state and local law enforcement, they should also be able to sue federal law enforcement.
Step two: we need to abolish qualified immunity.
Qualified immunity is an unjust, court-invented legal doctrine that says law enforcement misconduct can be excused. That includes violations of constitutional rights.
The Supreme Court has expanded qualified immunity to the point where even Clarence Thomas thinks it’s gone too far.
This accountability two-step is critical to reining in this extremist administration.
During these negotiations on DHS funding, Democrats must prioritize giving power to the people to protect their rights.
Mr. Romanucci, you are the lawyer representing the Good family during this unimaginably painful moment. You’ve spent decades litigating excessive force cases. How does qualified immunity impact your ability to seek accountability for your clients?
MR. ROMANUCCI: Thank you, Congresswoman. Qualified immunity is a tremendous barrier. It’s a hurdle to achieve civil justice and accountability for people who want to sue police officers.
I liken it very much to get out of jail card on a Monopoly board, because unless it’s clearly established that the officer violated a law, they get a pass. They get qualified immunity, and the lawsuit is dismissed. You cannot achieve that.
By your suggestion – which is, which is a good one, we’re aligned – by abolishing qualified immunity and making the employer, the agency, the law enforcement agency, responsible for the police officers’ actions, we have accountability.
We have a system of justice that would be fair and gets rid of that hurdle.
REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you. We need laws that empower families like those that have testified before us today.
We should use these negotiations to rebalance power, to restore accountability, and to protect the people that we were actually sent here to serve.
I yield back.
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