Democratic lawmakers in several states are advancing proposals that would restrict or prohibit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from being hired into state or local law enforcement roles.
In California, Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat, said Wednesday that if elected governor he would use executive authority to prevent ICE agents from being hired by state agencies.
Speaking during an appearance with MSNBC host Katie Phang, Swalwell said ICE agents would be “unhirable” in California under his administration, describing the policy as a response to federal immigration enforcement tactics.
“It’s often the case that law enforcement officers will want to lateral from one department to another,” Swalwell remarked.
“And as governor, I’ll use my emergency powers, and I’ll tell every state agency, ‘We are not, as a policy, hiring ICE agents.’”
Swalwell said ICE agents choose to work for the agency and are not compelled to do so.
“Because right now, these guys doing this work, it’s a decision. No one’s holding a gun and saying you have to work for ICE,” he continued.
“So, when I’m governor, if you’re still working for ICE and you haven’t got the message that no one’s asking you to do this, you won’t be hired in the state,” Swalwell added.
Swalwell said immigration enforcement would be a priority issue for him as governor, saying he could not address other crises until he fulfilled what he described as his role as a “fighter protector for Californians.”
At the beginning of January, Swalwell also said he would seek to revoke the driver’s licenses of federal immigration agents who wear masks during enforcement operations.
“If the president is going to send ICE agents to chase immigrants through the fields where they work, what I’m going to do is make them take off their masks and show their faces, that they show their identification, and if they commit crimes, that they’re going to be charged with crimes,” Swalwell said in an interview with MS Now.
He noted that agents who refuse to identify themselves would not be eligible to hold California driver’s licenses.
“If the governor has the ability to issue driver’s licenses to people in California, if you’re going to wear a mask and not identify yourself, you’re not going to be eligible to drive a vehicle in California,” Swalwell said.
Similar proposals have been introduced in other Democratic-led states.
In Washington state, Democratic Rep. Tarra Simmons introduced legislation this week titled the ICE Out Act of 2026.
The bill would prohibit state law enforcement agencies from hiring anyone who has served as a sworn ICE officer since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term.
“In this Washington, we have worked incredibly hard to build trust between law enforcement and community,” Simmons said in a press release announcing the bill.
She argued that ICE agents trained during the Trump administration could undermine those efforts.
“The last thing we need is infiltration of ICE agents trained during the Trump Administration to send us backwards,” Simmons said.
Simmons said the bill is not intended to discourage police recruitment generally, but to set standards for eligibility.
“Law enforcement recruitment is paramount, we need more officers,” she remarked.
“However, we expect those officers to earn the trust and respect of the communities they live in, not act as an occupying force.”
In Maryland, Democratic state Del. Adrian Boafo has introduced legislation known as the ICE Breaker Act of 2026, which would bar ICE agents hired during Trump’s presidency from serving as police officers or in sworn law enforcement roles within state or local agencies.
“This year, I introduced legislation to ensure ICE officers can never serve in any of Maryland’s police forces,” Boafo tweeted.
This year, I introduced legislation to ensure ICE officers can never serve in any of Maryland's police forces.
Why? Because they are not trained, they are not qualified, and Marylanders deserve people who will protect them.
I'll introduce similar legislation in Congress.
— Delegate Adrian Boafo (@AdrianBoafoMD) January 16, 2026
“Why? Because they are not trained, they are not qualified, and Marylanders deserve people who will protect them,” he added.
Boafo said the bill would not apply to individuals who joined ICE before Trump was inaugurated in January 2025.
“What we’re saying in Maryland is that any ICE officer, sworn agent who saw the horrific violence that’s been happening over the last year and said, ‘You know what, I want to join that work,’ we don’t want you to work at any point in time as police officers,” Boafo said in remarks reported by local media.
The proposed Maryland legislation would prevent individuals who joined ICE after Jan. 20, 2025, from holding law enforcement positions in state government, but would not restrict them from other forms of state employment.
Critics of the proposal have questioned its premise. Betsy Smith, a spokesperson for the National Police Association, said the bill appears to misrepresent how law enforcement hiring works.
“It sounds as though this politician wants people to believe that an ICE agent can just come into their town and tomorrow be a patrol officer in their town,” Smith said. “It’s simply ridiculous.”
Smith noted that local law enforcement agencies typically have rigorous hiring and certification requirements.
Another Maryland Democrat, state Del. David Moon, has introduced separate legislation aimed at identifying federal immigration agents accused of misconduct.
Moon’s proposal would establish a process allowing courts to order the preservation and disclosure of digital information that could identify ICE agents accused of violent or unconstitutional conduct during enforcement actions.
“I’m introducing a bill to ‘digitally unmask’ anonymous ICE agents involved in violent or unconstitutional misconduct,” Moon said in a post on X.
The bill defines identifying digital data broadly, including license plate information, cell phone and location data, facial recognition records, and other digital identifiers.
Access to such data would require a court order issued in a civil or criminal case alleging constitutional violations.
Under the proposal, the law would take effect Oct. 1, 2026, allowing time for courts and agencies to establish procedures for preserving and handling the data.
Moon introduced the bill one day after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 7.
Following that incident, activists and clergy organized demonstrations in Minneapolis opposing federal immigration enforcement.
Thousands of protesters marched Friday from The Commons in downtown Minneapolis to the Target Center during an event billed as the “ICE Out of MN: Day of Truth and Freedom” march, according to organizers.
