After two men were shot and killed by ICE agents this month, advocates are renewing calls to require independent investigations into shootings by federal immigration officers in California.
Assembly Bill 1806 would have the state attorney general perform a thorough investigation into any shooting involving an immigration agent and a civilian.
“We have seen the federal government investigate itself,” said Bruno Huizar with the California Immigrant Policy Center, referencing what he called “unlawful killings.”
“Assembly Bill 1806 would require our state Attorney General to conduct an independent investigation,” Huizar told KCBX.
The bill, coauthored by Assemblymembers Juan Carrillo and Jesse Gabriel, was approved by the state Assembly in May. It’s currently in committee.
In a statement to KCBX, Assemblymember Gabriel said recent shootings in Maine and Texas “underscore the urgent need for legislation to hold ICE accountable.”
“California cannot and will not stand idly by in the face of the Trump Administration’s reckless immigration policies,” he wrote.
In January, after federal agents shot and killed two people in Minnesota, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said state law enforcement can investigate crimes committed by federal agents.
In a statement, Bonta wrote that federal and state law enforcement normally collaborate on investigations.
“...[U]nfortunately, as recent events in Minnesota have made clear, cooperation in the conduct of such investigations can no longer be expected from the federal government,” Bonta wrote.
Existing California law does require the state to investigate fatal shootings of unarmed people by law enforcement officers.
Huizar says that AB 1806 “clarifies” state law by explicitly referencing shootings by federal immigration agents.
In March, the Department of Justice announced that it was investigating a fatal shooting by a San Luis Obispo Police Department officer.
According to reporting from CalMatters, those investigations often stretch on for years — the Department of Justice hasn’t recommended charges against an officer since the program began.
The office of the Maine Attorney General has launched an investigation into the recent shooting by an ICE agent of 26-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero.
Local police in Biddeford, Maine told the the Portland Press Herald their role was limited to providing security at the scene of the shooting.
In Texas, the Attorney General hasn’t announced an investigation into the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Houston earlier this month.
However, local officials in Harris County have launched their own investigation, according to Houston Public Media.
