Minnesota state Sen. Fateh joins nat'l lawmakers in push to let Americans sue ICE agents
Lawmakers from across the U.S., including Democratic Minnesota state Sen. Omar Fateh, gathered in Chicago Wednesday morning to push for the public's ability to sue federal immigration officers.
The event centered on the unveiling of "a new, nationwide initiative to introduce or reintroduce legislation allowing Americans to sue ICE agents for constitutional violations," according to the State Innovation Exchange, which hosted the news conference.
Fateh was joined by three other state senators: Colorado's Mike Weissman, Illinois' Graciela Guzman and Utah's Luz Escamilla.
"The killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, Lorenzo Salgado Arauj in Texas, and Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero in Maine at the hands of ICE agents show the urgent need for accountability against an armed and well-funded force that has been terrorizing communities in total impunity," said a State Innovation Exchange spokesperson in a press release. "To date, no federal immigration agent has ever been convicted of criminal wrongdoing nor held personally liable while on duty."
Fateh, who represents the south Minneapolis district where Good and Pretti were killed in January, co-authored a bill this past legislative session that sought to allow Minnesotans to sue for compensation for civil rights violations at the hands of federal agents. The bill failed. Legislatures in Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland and Vermont have successfully passed similar laws.
"On May 11th, that package passed the Senate, 34 to 33, meaning not one single Republican voted for it," Fateh said. " And in our tied House, the Republican leadership spent the session pretending the bill did not exist, that [Operation Metro Surge] had not happened, and saying that even if it did happen, Minnesotans had it coming."
Fateh said in Wednesday's conference the bill would've also banned federal immigration officers from wearing masks, barred them from detaining people in places like courthouses, daycares, hospitals and schools.
"Next year, when we come back into session with the new legislature, we will renew the fight to defend rights, restore local control and hold agents and their bosses accountable for what happened in the state of Minnesota, so that that can never be allowed to happen anywhere ever again," Omar said.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office has filed criminal complaints against federal immigration officers accused of committing crimes during the ICE surge earlier this year. In late May, the office charged ICE agent Christian Castro with multiple counts of second-degree assault and a count of falsely reporting a crime following the shooting of Venezuelan national Julio Sosa-Celis on Jan. 14 in north Minneapolis.
In April, the office also charged ICE agent Gregory Morgan Jr. with assault in connection to an incident in early February where he allegedly pointed a gun at two people on a Twin Cities highway.
No charges have been filed yet against ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Good's Jan. 7 shooting death, and against the still-unidentified Border Patrol agents who killed Pretti on Jan. 24.
Earlier this month, federal investigators began sharing evidence in these cases with Hennepin County and state prosecutors after a monthslong lack of cooperation.