American Renaissance 1/12/2026 10:52:42 AM
 

Blue state lawmakers have had it with ICE.

State legislatures across the country are accelerating efforts to shape immigration enforcement policy after the deadly shooting of a Minnesota woman by a federal agent, raising tensions between local leaders and the Trump administration.

From California to New York and Illinois to New Jersey, they’re pushing a range of bills aimed at limiting enforcement and protecting people targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while turning up the rhetoric with comparisons to the Gestapo.

Some policies were moving before an ICE agent fatally shot Renée Good, a 37-year-old Minneapolis mother last week. But her death has been cited by lawmakers as reason to squeeze ICE out of their states.

New York state Sen. Pat Fahy, who sponsored a bill that would prohibit ICE agents from wearing masks and one that would create a state dashboard tracking immigration officials’ activity, said “momentum is on our side.”

{snip}

State leaders are pursuing different policy responses – but the throughline is that federal immigration authorities may find themselves with headaches in some blue states if the proposals become law.

In Illinois, a Democratic state senator has filed legislation that would bar anyone hired by ICE under Trump from obtaining employment in state or local law enforcement.

In conservative Tennessee, a lawmaker has filed legislation that would prohibit federal immigration enforcement actions on school property. And in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul signaled she’ll support legislation that would allow residents to bring civil lawsuits against federal immigration officials for constitutional violations.

Across the Hudson River, New Jersey lawmakers are pushing to codify the state’s practice that limits state and local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities; bar the government and hospitals from collecting immigration information; and set up guidelines on how health care facilities, schools and other institutions should respond to federal immigration authorities. The suite of bills — which started advancing before the Minnesota shooting — could be on Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk this upcoming week.

{snip}

In Illinois, Democratic state Sen. Laura Fine introduced a bill that would make anyone hired by ICE during Trump’s second term ineligible for state or local law enforcement positions in Illinois. Fine said the measure is intended to hold federal immigration officials accountable and prevent what she characterizes as escalating violence tied to immigration enforcement. She said it was prompted by what she described as a “deeply disturbing” incident in Minneapolis.

{snip}

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, struck a similar tone in his State of the State address this week, warning that the Trump administration was “using American cities as training grounds for the U.S. military.”

He and California lawmakers reacted to ICE raids, which began in Los Angeles last year, by passing multiple bills meant to prevent officers from wearing masks and to keep them out of hospitals and schools.

This year, one lawmaker is leading an effort to ban businesses from selling personal data to third parties, specifically citing a fear that information sold could help ICE arrest undocumented immigrants. Another wants to prevent the state’s police officers from working with or volunteering for ICE.

Across the country in New York, there were already signs that Democrats might be more open to addressing immigration issues in this year’s legislative session. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins announced on Wednesday that she supports the “goals” of a bill that would make it much more difficult for law enforcement to cooperate with ICE. New York state lawmakers are also weighing a measure meant to guarantee undocumented immigrants legal representation when they are facing deportation proceedings, according to two people with direct knowledge of the conversations and granted anonymity to discuss the private talks.

{snip}

The post States Move to Rein in ICE After Fatal Minnesota Shooting appeared first on American Renaissance.