Our blind raters scored the candidates on their response to: What immediate steps would you take to hold ICE, CPB, the attorney general and others accountable for illegal actions?

Beth Ellen Adubato

We can no longer recognize ICE as a governmental operation—they are a rogue group existing outside the law. So, they must be completely disbanded, restructured, and RE-NAMED. No law enforcement officers in this country should be masked, untrained in the law, unaccountable to supervisors, etc. Those ICE agents who have committed violence or any other illegal action should be prosecuted.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has always enjoyed more leeway when it comes to warrantless searches, as you have diminished rights at borders.  This includes airports and train stations.  This is why, for example, customs officers have performed body-cavity searches on “drug mules.”  CBP is abusing their rights at this time, however, because they are conducting searches and detainment far past the areas of their jurisdiction.  These people working outside the law should be fired and in some cases, prosecuted.

The attorney general should be impeached because of high crimes. (This person has watched videos and has observed pictures of children being raped and has done nothing.) Additionally, back to the subject of this question, the attorney general certainly has knowledge of the unconstitutional actions of ICE agents and CBP officers and their superiors and has done nothing.

Kristi Noem should be prosecuted for basically using huge amounts of our tax dollars to purchase unnecessary items such as a new fleet of luxury cars and personal planes. She should also be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, but that is a hard one to define under our laws. We do not recognize the International Criminal Court, unfortunately.

Brian Varela

Accountability requires transparency. ICE agents currently operate with fewer constraints than local police, they can wear masks, cover badges, refuse to identify themselves, use unmarked vehicles, and detain people without judicial warrants. That has to change. I support requiring all ICE and CBP agents to wear body cameras that remain active throughout enforcement operations, with footage available to anyone who is arrested or detained and their attorneys. When an agent’s camera fails to record, the burden should be on the agency to prove malfunction, otherwise, discipline should follow. California’s No Secret Police Act offers a model: ban masks and face coverings during enforcement, require visible identification, and strip qualified immunity from officers who violate these rules. At the federal level, I support the VISIBLE Act, which would mandate these requirements nationwide.

I also support conditioning federal law enforcement funding on compliance with accountability standards. Taxpayers deserve assurance that ICE agents follow the law. That means tying appropriations to body camera mandates, misconduct tracking, and cooperation with congressional oversight. To ensure independent oversight survives political pressure, I support the FALCON Act, which requires agencies to respond to Inspector General requests within 60 days or face discipline, including termination. When the Trump administration fired 21 inspectors general to avoid accountability, it proved why we need statutory protections for watchdogs. The Attorney General is harder to hold accountable by design, the Constitution gives the president removal authority. But Congress can demand testimony, issue subpoenas, hold officials in contempt, condition DOJ appropriations, and ultimately pursue impeachment for officials who refuse to enforce the law or who direct unlawful conduct. If Democrats regain the House, I would support aggressive use of all these tools.

Megan O’Rourke

I support Congressional oversight and investigation of immigration enforcement.  Moreover, when the Dems take the House, we will roll back appropriations for ICE and CBP.

Michael Roth

America’s democracy has thrived because our Constitution creates three separate, equal branches of the government. The Trump Administration, conspiring with a Republican Congress that has bent the knee, has, in one year, shown how fragile our democracy is and how quickly the country can turn towards authoritarianism. Congress needs to show immediately that no agency, no attorney general, and no president is above the Constitution. Democrats today should be sending a message to anyone who has conspired illegally with the Trump Administration that we are going after them to the fullest extent of Congressional powers, including oversight and investigative powers, power of the purse, legislative authority, IG and enforcement referrals, and structural checks like rejecting emergency powers falsely used as pretext. When I’m in Congress, I will:

  • Conduct rigorous oversight and investigations of ICE, CPB, DOJ, and any other agency, corporation, or foreign government whenever there are credible allegations of illegal or unconstitutional conduct
  • Hold public oversight hearings to expose patterns of abuse, unlawful directives, and failures to comply with court orders
  • Strengthen and protect Inspectors General by ensuring they have independence, subpoena power, adequate funding, and protection from political interference
  • Use Congress’s power of the purse to right-size the investment in immigration enforcement
  • Legislate clear statutory guardrails governing detention conditions, asylum processing, use of force, family separation, and due process so no one can exploit ambiguity to justify actions
  • Protect and empower whistleblowers inside enforcement agencies who report misconduct, abuse, or corruption
  • Ensure real consequences for violations, including referrals for civil or criminal investigation when warranted and removal of officials who authorize or carry out illegal actions
  • Impeach as necessary when an action taken by any member of the Trump Administration has committed an impeachable offense

Rebecca Bennett

The first step is to have a Congress that operates as a co-equal branch of government and not simply a blank check for this Administration.  While the OBBB cuts in healthcare are well known, the added funding for these agencies is being used in the worst possible way, violating American citizens rights.  We cannot tolerate American citizens being illegally detained simply for the color of their skin, and those who do so, especially key decision makers, will eventually be held accountable.

Tina Shah

Many of Trump’s immigration policies are illegal, inhumane and directly contradict the America my parents came to.

ICE kidnapping people from their homes, their place of work, and in public without any due process (a Constitutional right!) is not only illegal, it’s un-American. We should all be ashamed of what we are witnessing, and we must continue to stand up and come together as a community to fight back against these draconian policies.

And in Congress, I will use House oversight powers to hold this administration accountable for what they’ve done for tearing apart our communities.