SAN FRANCISCO – In a viral new piece, Tom Steyer released the nation’s most comprehensive strategy to defend the rights of every Californian and hold ICE accountable for its abuses of power. Steyer outlines a five-point plan to fight back, including criminalizing racial profiling by federal agents,pursuing supervisory liability against ICE leadership, and building a massive legal defense infrastructure for detained immigrants.

As governor, Steyer will:

• Seek legislation to prohibit law enforcement from profiling Californians. Steyer will seek legislation to outlaw law enforcement from profiling Californians based on their race, ethnicity, language, occupation, or location. In July 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California found that ICE agents were demonstrably engaging in, among other things, racial and ethnic profiling.
• Hold ICE agents and leadership accountable when they break the law. Steyer will seek legislation to grant the California Attorney General the authority to hold ICE agents accountable for violent, illegal conduct on the job, including criminal liability for ICE agents and their leadership.
• Create a special investigative unit to monitor and investigate ICE's activities in California, including conditions at detention facilities. This investigative unit will collect the evidence for the California Attorney General to prosecute ICE agents and their leadership.
• Increase resources for unlawfully detained Californians. Steyer will strengthen the legal defense infrastructure in California — funding for more attorneys, investigators, and accredited representatives, as well as legal aid and law school programs — to assist those who have been wrongfully imprisoned without due process.
• Launch a statewide “Know Your Rights” public education and public awareness campaign. Every Californian, regardless of their immigration status, should know their constitutional and legal rights if they are stopped, detained, or questioned by ICE agents.

Since launching his campaign, Steyer has called for ICE to be abolished. As governor, Steyer will protect the most vulnerable and bring to justice those who break the law and brutalize our neighbors.

With the release of this new plan, Steyer has doubled down on his stance against ICE, arguing that California has both the legal authority and the moral obligation to prosecute ICE agents who break state law — and asserting that on his watch, it will. Read the full plan here.

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