Rep. Ayanna Pressley introduces bill to end qualified immunity for ICE officers following fatal shootings

“We cannot stand idly by while rogue federal agents—emboldened by the Trump White House—ravage our communities, brutalize families, and kill our neighbors on the street in cold blood,” said Pressley.

Following the fatal ICE shootings of Renee Good, Keith Porter, and others, U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley introduced a new bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would end qualified immunity, expanding accountability for ICE agents.

“We cannot stand idly by while rogue federal agents—emboldened by the Trump White House—ravage our communities, brutalize families, and kill our neighbors on the street in cold blood,” Pressley said in a statement about the Qualified Immunity Abolition Act of 2026, which is co-led by Senator Ed Markey in the U.S. Senate.

“Our bill sends a powerful message to everyone in America—citizen or not—that when ICE agents break the law, they should and will be held accountable. For Renee Good, Keith Porter, Nenko Gantchev, and every death at the hands of federal law enforcement, Congress must end qualified immunity.”

The Qualified Immunity Abolition Act of 2026 would grant victims the right to sue federal law enforcement officers, as well as state and local officers, for civil rights violations and abolish the defense of qualified immunity in court.

The introduction of the bill comes a week after the fatal shooting of Good, a 37-year-old mother and poet who was shot in the face by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as well as Keith Porter, a 43-year-old father, who was shot by an off-duty ICE officer in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve.

“The expanded legislation would help deliver accountability for families abused by law enforcement, including ICE agents,” according to the offices of Pressley and Markey, both elected members of Congress from Massachusetts.

“All too often, the flawed and judge-made doctrine of qualified immunity shields law enforcement officers from liability, even when they commit egregious misconduct or use excessive force. The Qualified Immunity Abolition Act abolishes this unjust defense in cases against federal law enforcement officers, allowing victims to vindicate their rights in court.”

Markey added, “With ICE agents trampling over our laws, our rights, and our communities, we must demand justice and hold wrongdoers accountable.”

Legislative efforts to end qualified immunity came to a head in 2020 after the police murder of George Floyd. At the time, Pressley and Markey introduced the Ending Qualified Immunity Act. Qualified immunity also became a sticking point during failed bipartisan negotiations between Democrats and Republicans to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

Qualified immunity was established as a judicial doctrine by the Supreme Court in 1967,  preventing government officials from being held personally liable in court for misconduct, including for violations of constitutional rights.

The offices of Pressley and Markey note that Congress never intended to “shield public officials from this type of liability,” explaining that the Civil Rights Act of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, expressly allowed individuals to sue government officials, including law enforcement officers, who violate their civil rights.

“In the past few decades, federal courts have gutted this landmark civil rights law by creating and then expanding the defense of qualified immunity,” said the lawmakers.