ICE OUT Act in plain language
1: Short title
This section would let the Act be referred to as the ICE OUT Act.
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1. Short title This Act may be cited as the ICE OUT Act .
2: Reforming qualified immunity standards for ICE agents engaged in law enforcement activities
This section would amend Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1983), the federal civil rights law that lets a person sue someone who violates their constitutional rights while acting under color of law. It would label the law's existing opening text as subsection (a) and would insert the words "of the United States or" immediately before the words "of any State" in that text. Right now this law reaches only conduct taken under color of a state's authority (or a territory's or the District of Columbia's); this change would extend it to also reach conduct taken under color of federal authority, so a person acting under federal law could be sued under this statute as well. The section would then add two new subsections. New subsection (b) would apply to any lawsuit brought under this statute or any other federal law against an officer or agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs and Border Protection who is engaged in law enforcement. Under it, if the facts the plaintiff alleges would amount to excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment, that officer or agent could not raise any immunity defense at all. For every other type of claim against such an officer or agent, an immunity defense would be available only if the officer or agent had acted in a manner consistent with rights, privileges, or immunities that the Constitution and the laws had clearly established at the time of the challenged conduct. New subsection (c) would require that, when a court decides whether immunity applies under subsection (b)(2), it must first decide whether the facts alleged would amount to a violation of a right, privilege, or immunity secured by the Constitution, before it decides whether that right was clearly established at the time of the conduct. A court could not skip ahead to the clearly-established question without first resolving whether a constitutional violation occurred.
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2. Reforming qualified immunity standards for ICE agents engaged in law enforcement activities Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes ( 42 U.S.C. 1983 ) is amended— (1) by inserting (a) before Every person ; (2) by inserting of the United States or before of any State ; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (b) In the case of any action brought under this section or any other Federal law against an officer or agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs and Border Protection engaged in law enforcement— (1) no immunity defense shall be available if the facts alleged by the plaintiff would constitute excessive force in violation of the 4th amendment; and (2) in all other cases, an immunity defense shall only be available if the defendant acted in a manner consistent with rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws clearly established at the time at which the conduct subject to the cause of action occurred. (c) In determining when immunity shall apply under subsection (b)(2), a court must first determine whether the facts alleged would constitute a violation of the rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution prior to determining whether any such rights were clearly established at the time at which the conduct subject to the cause of action occurred. .