As Democratic candidates make moves to solidify their support ahead of the gubernatorial primary, Tom Steyer released a new plan that would take drastic steps to combat ICE — including jailing agents.
The progressive billionaire candidate published a blog post Tuesday outlining his plan to push back against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He said it’s not enough for Democrats to “simply engage in rhetoric” and claim to stand against President Donald Trump’s administration.
Steyer compared his plan to the way law enforcement fought the mob and called the federal agency a “violent extremist group.”
“California must build a system that fights fire with fire,” he said. “To stop this authoritarian takeover, we must counter ICE head-on, and go after both their agents on the streets and their leadership within the Department of Homeland Security.”
Steyer’s five-part plan includes passing stronger legislation to combat racial profiling, appointing a special task force to prosecute crimes at detention facilities and launching a “Know Your Rights” public awareness campaign.
Additionally, he promised to “bring those detained and kidnapped by ICE back home” by creating a stronger legal defense network to help immigrants.
The most attention-grabbing part of Steyer’s plan, though, is to give the attorney general power to prosecute ICE leadership. His plan cites the concept of “supervisory liability,” in which superior officers and agency leaders are held liable for actions they direct subordinates to do.
“This body of law empowers the California justice system to criminally prosecute and imprison not just the ICE agents who are committing these crimes, but the leadership directing them to do so,” he said.
California needs to take matters into its own hands, Steyer said.
“In America, our system of government allows states to step in when the federal government fails to do its job,” he said. “Leading constitutional law scholars have argued that states can and should prosecute ICE agents for breaking their laws.”
The plan drew immediate condemnation from conservatives, including gubernatorial rival Steve Hilton. The former Fox News commentator and Republican candidate released a statement Wednesday calling Steyer’s proposal “far-left extremism.”
“He is calling for federal agents to be targeted on the streets and thrown in jail for enforcing the law,” Hilton said. “That is incitement. It puts a target on the backs of the men and women in uniform and empowers the most radical anti-government extremists.”
Steyer’s proposal also comes amid attack ads citing his former hedge fund’s investments in CoreCivic, a private prison company that now operates immigration detention centers.
His Democratic rivals have been quick to slam those investments, including now-disgraced former congressman Eric Swalwell, who last month said Steyer’s “entire campaign is built on the backs of kids in cages.”
Steyer has expressed regret for those investments, including during his presidential campaign in 2019 and during a recent town hall in San Diego, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“It was also a big wake-up call that I was in the wrong place, that I was in a business that was taking me to places I absolutely didn’t want to go,” Steyer said. “And there’s a reason I walked away from that business and walked away from a ton of money, because I felt like that is not the life I want.”
