Can States Come Together To Hold ICE Agents Accountable? Illinois Joins Others To Try

SOUTH LOOP — A group of state legislators from across the United States is pushing for state laws that hold federal agents accountable for potential violations of constitutional rights.

State lawmakers “gathered by consequence, not coincidence” — as Maryland state delegate Ashanti Martinez noted — at a press conference Tuesday in Chicago where they discussed ways to pursue immigration authorities who break the law since there is not an easy pathway federally to hold them accountable.

The effort — involving lawmakers from Illinois, Minnesota, Utah, Maryland, Colorado and other states — aims to use local laws to allow people to file civil lawsuits and seek compensation for damages.

“What you see here is legislators from across the country standing together, coordinated, [and] making interventions into a system that is designed to harm families with a rogue agency that is out of control,” said Martinez, referring to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement.

Illinois officials passed laws at the end of last year allowing residents to sue immigration agents if they believe the agents violated their state or federal constitutional rights.

Earlier this month, five people sued unidentified Border Patrol Agents over the use of tear gas and detentions during Operation Midway Blitz.

The laws also seek to stop agents from making arrests at state courthouses; to force hospitals and healthcare providers prepare for visits to their facilities by immigration agents; and to protect people at daycare centers, community colleges and public universities from federal agents. 

Lawmakers are now calling on those who believe their rights have been violated or who may have been arrested in violation of state laws to bring cases forward.

“We are actively seeking family members who have had their husbands, wives, families arrested at the courthouse,” said Illinois state Rep. Lilian Jimenez.

The Family Support Network — which can be reached at 855-435-7693 — can make referrals to an attorney or advocate that can evaluate whether callers have grounds for a civil lawsuit.

“There are state-funded resources that are there for families regardless of their ability to pay,” said state Rep. Graciela Guzmán.

Other similar laws are in the works.

In Illinois, lawmakers are discussing proposals to restrict federal agents from wearing masks and strengthen protections for data that immigrants give to schools, hospitals or other public bodies so it can’t be weaponized against people, Guzmán said.

“We’re looking at what tactics are being used and what are possible breaks in process and in law to see what else we can do to fortify protections for our people,” Guzmán said.

Colorado state Sen. Mike Weiss said these nationwide efforts are the direct result of the federal government’s harsh actions against immigrant communities.

Across the country, there have been dozens of reports of agents violently arresting citizens and immigrants alike, detaining people without judicial warrants, engaging in racial profiling and killing and injuring people during enforcement operations, lawmakers said.

“Federal agents are not, and never have been, above the law,” Weiss said.

Aurora, Colorado, which Weiss represents, was a target of Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric before the federal government launched heavy immigration enforcement operations there.

“State courts, where federal courts will not vindicate people’s rights … need to be a venue where people can access that readily,” Weiss said.

Minnesota state Sen. Omar Fateh said state officials proposed protections for immigrants in 2024 that at the time felt too “early, too hypothetical and too politically risky to pass.” But then those hypotheticals came to pass, and existing laws didn’t offer enough protections, he said.

At the end of 2025, as Operation Midway Blitz subsided in Chicago, Trump launched Metro Surge, bringing thousands of federal immigration agents to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

“Trump’s agents rounded up random people on the street,” Fateh said. “They arrested whole families, young children, moms and old women. They pursued, harassed, detained, arrested and jailed Minnesotans at every stage of immigration, including [those with] legal status, refugees, naturalized citizens and even second- and third-generation citizens.”

Federal agents fatally shot two people, arrested thousands and led operations where people’s constitutional rights violations were potentially violated, Fateh said.

In May, Minnesota lawmakers passed laws that give state residents the right to sue agents for violations of the law. Legislators have also proposed banning federal agents from using masks and state investigators from participating in violent incident investigations, and restricting civil immigration arrests at sensitive locations, he said.

While the federal government has repeatedly challenged state laws aiming to restrict how federal agents can make civil immigration arrests, these laws are “permissible under constitutional law,” Weiss said.

And even if federal immigration agents have some level of immunity from prosecution, they are not fully exempt, Weiss said.

In Illinois, officials continue to pressure local law enforcement agents and prosecutors to bring forward criminal complaints against federal agents, Jimenez said. Earlier this month, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called on the public to report any potential misconduct or criminal activity by federal agents to police.

“We don’t need to pass bills for there to be local authority for prosecutors to act. They just have to carefully decide how to use their power,” Weiss said.