A billionaire Democrat running California openly vowing to arrest and jail federal immigration agents shows just how far the left will go to cripple border enforcement and undermine the rule of law.^[1][2]

Story Snapshot

• Tom Steyer’s gubernatorial campaign blueprint calls Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a “criminal organization” and promises to “arrest and prosecute ICE agents and their leadership.”^[1][2][3]
• His plan leans on state laws, a special investigative unit, and the California Attorney General to pursue criminal liability against federal officers doing immigration enforcement.^[1][2]
• The campaign materials offer heated rhetoric but no case-specific proof, named agents, or clear legal path to overcome federal supremacy and officer immunity.^[1][2][3]
• The push reflects a broader left-wing effort to delegitimize federal immigration enforcement and turn routine border security into grounds for prosecuting the people enforcing the law.^[1][2]

Steyer’s Promise: Use California Law to Put ICE Agents in Jail

Tom Steyer’s own campaign press release lays out the most extreme plank: a promise that, as governor, he would “abolish ICE and prosecute agents,” explicitly pledging to “arrest and prosecute ICE agents and their leadership” for what he brands “criminal behavior.”^[1] His public messaging doubles down, describing ICE as a “criminal organization” operating in California, not a federal law-enforcement body carrying out acts authorized by Congress and the executive branch.^[2] In a short interview clip, he states, “We should be working to abolish ICE,” framing frontline agents as criminals rather than officers enforcing duly enacted immigration laws.^[3] For conservatives who believe in secure borders and respect for the men and women who serve, that language reads less like oversight and more like a declaration of war on federal immigration enforcement itself.

Steyer’s campaign issues page, titled “Stop ICE from terrorizing Californians,” is designed to move that rhetoric into policy.^[2] It claims that “you can’t reform a criminal organization,” and asserts that ICE agents have “brutalized” and unlawfully targeted Californians, including a dramatic allegation that “Trump’s masked agents brutally murdered” two named individuals.^[2] To justify criminal prosecutions, the page cites a July 2025 ruling by the United States District Court for the Central District of California, asserting that federal immigration agents were “demonstrably engaging in, among other things, racial and ethnic profiling.”^[2] However, the campaign materials presented offer no incident-level evidence tying that finding to specific state criminal charges against named agents, nor do they show that any court has declared ICE itself a legally “criminal” organization.^[1][2]

How His Plan Would Weaponize State Power Against Federal Officers

The policy framework Steyer describes would build a state-level enforcement machine aimed squarely at federal immigration personnel.^[1][2] His press release and issues page call for “aggressive legislation” to outlaw racial profiling in law enforcement statewide and then empower the California Attorney General to “hold ICE agents and their leadership accountable for violent, illegal conduct on the job,” including pursuing criminal liability.^[1][2] A specially funded investigative unit inside California’s government would be tasked with monitoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, gathering evidence, and preparing cases to prosecute federal officers in state courts.^[2] At the same time, Steyer promises to strengthen a legal-defense infrastructure for people he describes as “unlawfully detained,” using state taxpayer money to fight federal enforcement actions and challenge detentions carried out under federal immigration law.^[2]

'Watch Me:' Tom Steyer Vows to Arrest ICE Agents in California https://t.co/4854GoHOY5 “Read This”(dummy) Under the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the US Constitution, and under longstanding Supreme Court precedent, states may not criminally prosecute federal officers for…

— pat (@patgill69033215) May 26, 2026

From a constitutional perspective, that model runs straight into the Supremacy Clause, which establishes that federal law and federal officers acting under lawful authority outrank conflicting state measures.^[1][2] Yet Steyer’s documents do not include a jurisdictional roadmap explaining how California courts could legally convict federal agents for on-duty actions that Congress has authorized and the federal executive branch has directed.^[1] There is no cited analysis of federal officer immunity doctrines, preemption, or the procedures that allow federal officers to remove state prosecutions into federal court when they are targeted for performing federal duties.^[1][2] Instead, the campaign materials rely on repeated assertions that ICE behavior is “criminal,” without providing the statutory elements, charging theories, or case law needed to survive the inevitable legal challenges.

Rhetoric without Case Evidence, and What It Means for the Rule of Law

Even on its own terms, Steyer’s case for criminal prosecution rests more on political messaging than on detailed proof.^[1][2] His press release and issue page do not name specific ICE agents, list dates or locations of alleged crimes, or identify concrete charges aligned to California’s criminal code.^[1][2] They do not include sworn statements, body-camera footage, internal investigation results, or inspector-general findings that would normally underpin a serious effort to indict law-enforcement officers.^[1] The claim that ICE is a “criminal organization” is stated as a conclusion, not demonstrated with a record of adjudicated misconduct that would withstand scrutiny in court.^[2] For many conservatives, that disconnect highlights the danger: a powerful state government talking openly about jailing federal officers without first doing the hard evidentiary work that the rule of law demands.

This entire episode fits a familiar pattern in modern politics, where activists brand law-enforcement institutions “criminal” to turn policy disagreements into moral showdowns, while opponents answer with warnings about jurisdiction, immunity, and proof.^[1][2] In this case, the question is not just whether any individual Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has ever crossed a legal line; it is whether a single state can build an apparatus to pursue federal officers as criminals for carrying out national immigration policy.^[1][2] With border security already under pressure and federal agents facing daily risks on the job, proposals like Steyer’s send a chilling message: follow federal law in California, and you could find yourself in a state courtroom, targeted by politicians who see you not as a public servant, but as a criminal enemy to be “abolished.”^[1][2][3]

Sources:

[1] Web – In New Ad, Steyer Calls to Abolish ICE and Prosecute Agents

[2] YouTube – ICE Is ‘Criminal’ – California Governor Candidate Tom Steyer

[3] Web – Stop ICE from terrorizing Californians | Tom Steyer for Governor