A billionaire Democrat once vowed to put federal immigration agents in jail simply for doing their jobs in California, revealing just how far the left was willing to go to undermine border enforcement and federal authority.

Story Snapshot

• Tom Steyer’s campaign openly pledged to “arrest and prosecute” federal immigration agents and their leaders in California.
• His own plan labeled Immigration and Customs Enforcement a “criminal organization” and compared it to the mob.^[1][3]
• The proposal leaned on state law and creative legal theories to attack federal officers operating under federal authority.^[1]
• The fight highlighted a broader left-wing push to criminalize immigration enforcement and blur the line between policy disputes and actual crime.^[1][2][3]

Steyer’s Promise to Arrest Federal Immigration Agents

Tom Steyer’s gubernatorial campaign in California did not simply criticize immigration enforcement; it promised to use state power to arrest and prosecute federal immigration agents and their leadership.^[1] His campaign press release touted an ad pledging to “abolish” Immigration and Customs Enforcement and “prosecute their criminal behavior as Governor,” explicitly describing a plan to “arrest and prosecute ICE agents and their leadership.”^[1] This was presented not as rhetoric, but as a concrete governing agenda.^[1][3]

'Watch Me:' Tom Steyer Vows to Arrest ICE Agents in California Tom is a certified #WhackADoodle and he is the New Democrat https://t.co/lCMssRNjeN

— Common Sense Isn’t Common (@KibblesNBits) May 26, 2026

In public appearances and online clips, Steyer repeatedly branded Immigration and Customs Enforcement a “criminal organization” operating in California, insisting that agents were engaged in systematic racial profiling and abuse.^[2][3] A short interview segment captured him saying, “We should be working to abolish ICE,” as he outlined his plan to hold agents “accountable,” language his campaign then codified into detailed policy proposals.^[2][3] The goal, according to his own materials, was not reform, but to treat federal officers as criminals.^[3]

Inside the Plan to Use State Power Against Federal Officers

Steyer’s written blueprint laid out a five‑step strategy to give California tools to pursue federal immigration agents through state criminal law.^[1] First, he promised “aggressive legislation” to outlaw racial profiling by any law enforcement agency, making clear that federal badges would no longer serve as a “shield for abuse” in the state.^[1] Second, he proposed empowering the California Attorney General to pursue “supervisory liability,” allowing prosecutors to target not just line agents, but federal leadership directing immigration enforcement operations.^[1]

Third, Steyer vowed to create and fund a special investigative unit dedicated to policing Immigration and Customs Enforcement conduct inside California, including conditions in detention facilities.^[1] According to his own description, this unit would gather evidence for the Attorney General to “prosecute offenders and their leadership,” effectively building a state-run investigative arm focused on federal officers.^[1] Fourth, he called for a large immigration legal-defense infrastructure to help those he said were “detained and kidnapped” by immigration agents, with lawyers and advocates ready to bring cases against officers in state court.^[1]

Legal Theories, Constitutional Questions, and Missing Evidence

To justify this agenda, Steyer argued that there was a “solid legal foundation” for California to prosecute immigration agents who “break the law,” pointing to federalism principles and a district court decision in United States v. California.^[1] He cited Judge Snyder as having made clear that California can regulate conduct of immigration agents so long as the rules also apply to state and local police, and he noted that constitutional law scholars had argued states can and should prosecute agents who violate state laws.^[1] His campaign also referenced a July 2025 Central District of California finding that agents engaged in racial and ethnic profiling.^[3]

Tom Steyer: “We should abolish ICE, it’s a criminal organization. We should be prosecuting ICE agents for racial profiling, for committing violence against Californians.”pic.twitter.com/wK1MeaDWU9

— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) May 26, 2026

Even so, the record Steyer supplied relied almost entirely on his own campaign’s characterizations, not on case-specific proof that particular immigration officers had committed prosecutable crimes under state law.^[1][3] The materials did not name individual agents, list dates, locations, or specific charges, or supply independent investigative findings or court judgments labeling Immigration and Customs Enforcement a “criminal organization.”^[1][3] That gap underscores a deeper pattern: left-wing activists use criminal language to delegitimize enforcement, while the hard legal questions—Supremacy Clause limits, federal officer immunity, and proof of individual wrongdoing—remain unresolved in the background.^[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