❓WHAT HAPPENED: Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) suggested that local law enforcement could arrest federal agents who break local laws while enforcing federal immigration policies.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-CA), San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, and federal agents.
📍WHEN & WHERE: California, as outlined in a statement on Wednesday.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Our state and local authorities may arrest federal agents if they break California law—and if they are convicted, the President cannot pardon them.” – Nancy Pelosi and Kevin Mullin
🎯IMPACT: Legal experts have noted that the authority for states to arrest federal officers lacks clear precedent and could face significant legal challenges.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in a joint statement with Representative Kevin Mullin (D-CA), suggested that local law enforcement authorities could arrest federal agents who violate California laws while enforcing federal immigration policies.
“Reports of a planned mass immigration raid in the Bay Area are an appalling abuse of law enforcement power. Broad sweeps that target families and terrorize law-abiding residents betray our nation’s values and waste resources that should focus on real threats to public safety,” Pelosi and Mullin wrote, continuing: “It is important to note that California law protects communities and prevents federal agents from taking certain actions here that we have witnessed in other states. While the President may enjoy absolute immunity courtesy of his rogue Supreme Court, those who operate under his orders do not.”
“Our state and local authorities may arrest federal agents if they break California law—and if they are convicted, the President cannot pardon them,” the two House Democrats concluded.
San Francisco District Attorney (DA) Brooke Jenkins devised the idea of arresting federal immigration agents on charges like excessive use of force. “I had lead time to think about what authority I have and what I can do. This is something I felt very strongly about, and I had my office research it,” she explained in a recent interview.
According to the San Francisco DA, her office could review footage of incidents involving federal agents and seek warrants for their arrests if excessive force is identified. However, Jenkins acknowledged potential hurdles, including agents operating in masks or without identification, as well as legal challenges to a new California law barring agents from wearing masks, which takes effect in January.
Legal experts, including Berkeley School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, note the lack of precedent for such actions. Chemerinsky recently commented, “As long as the ICE agents are acting legally, the state can’t prosecute them and hold them liable, even if it dislikes what they’re doing.”
The arrest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents has previously been threatened by U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Cummings, who has barred arresting illegal immigrants inside or near the Cook County courthouse in downtown Chicago, Illinois, unless they can produce a warrant.
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.