Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker, suggested this week that local police could arrest federal agents who violate state law while carrying out immigration enforcement operations.
Pelosi made the comments Wednesday, ahead of the expected deployment of about 100 federal agents to San Francisco. President Donald Trump, however, reversed course Thursday after speaking with the city’s mayor.
Pelosi and fellow Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-Calif., released a statement asserting local law enforcement powers over federal agents.
“It is important to note that California law protects communities and prevents federal agents from taking certain actions here that we have witnessed in other states. While the president may enjoy absolute immunity courtesy of his rogue Supreme Court, those who operate under his orders do not,” their statement read.
“Our state and local authorities may arrest federal agents if they break California law — and if they are convicted, the President cannot pardon them,” they added.
Their statement echoed that of San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, a Democrat, who has twice said she would not hesitate to charge federal agents if she had a “provable case.”
Jenkins repeated the warning last week as Trump weighed deploying the National Guard to San Francisco.
“If I believe, and have conviction, that we can meet our burden and charges are appropriate, that I won’t hesitate to do so,” she said in an interview.
Jenkins said she had spoken with the San Francisco Police Department about the possibility of arresting federal agents for “clear, excessive use of force,” adding that the department supported the idea, The New York Times reported.
The legality of states arresting federal officers, however, remains unclear and largely untested, according to Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at the University of California, Berkeley.
Chemerinsky told the Times that states cannot interfere with federal agents enforcing federal law, and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are legally empowered to detain those suspected of being in the country illegally.
“As long as the ICE agents are acting legally, the state can’t prosecute them and hold them liable, even if it dislikes what they’re doing,” Chemerinsky told the newspaper.
Trump called off the federal deployment Thursday after speaking with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, a Democrat, who told the president the city was making progress in reducing crime.
Trump said he agreed to let San Francisco keep trying on its own.
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