California leaders launch online portal where “federal agent misconduct” can be reported
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a new online portal Wednesday allowing residents to report what they believe to be excessive force, misconduct or other potentially illegal activity by federal agents or members of the military working in the state.
Videos, photos and other information submitted through the portal will be treated confidentially and will help members of Bonta’s team “create a record of potential unlawful conduct by federal agents” that could be used in future legal actions, Bonta’s office said.
The announcement comes as state leaders have clashed fiercely with Trump administration officials over the deployment of federal immigration agents in California. For months, local residents have filmed and documented those agents during immigration raids and enforcement actions. Claims of abuses have mounted and local leaders have started putting forward their own measures to restrict federal agents operating in their jurisdictions — including a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors vote on Tuesday to ban federal agents from wearing masks.
“California will always stand against abuses of power wherever they come from, and we will make sure that no one — not even a federal agent — operates outside the Constitution in our state,” Bonta said during a news conference about the portal Wednesday morning. “This is an important step in that process.”
“We’re not going to stand by while anyone — including federal agents — abuses their authority in California,” Newsom said in a statement. “This new portal gives Californians an easy and safe way to speak up, share what they see, and help us hold people accountable. No one is above the law.”
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning. However, Trump officials have previously denied claims that federal agents are acting unlawfully in California, and strongly denounced previous suggestions from California officials that they might take legal actions against federal agents who step out of line in the state.
The Trump administration has responded to concerns about misconduct by federal agents by suggesting those making the complaints care more for criminals and undocumented immigrants than for hardworking federal law enforcement officers. And it has accused bystanders documenting the actions of immigration agents of putting officers in danger.
When the Times published an analysis this week that cast doubt on the Department of Homeland Security’s claim that there has been a 1,000% increase in assaults against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the department accused the Times of having “taken the side of murderous thugs who assault law enforcement, downplaying and promoting violence against them.”
The department recently had its budget massively expanded by Congress and is on a hiring spree for new ICE agents.
On Monday, DHS issued a statement saying its agents had worked through the Thanksgiving holiday to arrest “more worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from across the country including rapists, pedophiles, and murderers.” It also downplayed reports that many of the people its agents have arrested in recent months had no criminal record, saying that “70% of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens convicted or charged with a crime in the U.S.”
The U.S. Department of Justice in November sued California to block new laws that prohibit federal officials, including immigration agents, from wearing masks and that requires them to identify themselves.
Bonta said the portal will help combat a “campaign of terror and fear” being conducted in California by the Trump administration and its federal immigration agents, who are carrying out what Trump has called the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history.
“From unmarked military-style vehicles to detainments that more closely resemble kidnappings, Californians are rightly concerned that federal agents may be crossing the line and abusing their authority,” Bonta said.
In addition to reports of any suspected unlawful actions by federal officers, including “unlawful detentions, unreasonable searches [or] use of excessive force,” Bonta said his office is also interested in reports of “military deployed to California being engaged unlawfully in civilian law enforcement,” or of “the use of military or armed personnel at or near polling stations that interfere with the right to vote.”
Bonta said that while federal agents are allowed to enforce federal laws in California, they “must also do so lawfully and in compliance with the Constitution,” Bonta said, and anyone who doesn’t believe they are doing so should report their actions at oag.ca.gov/reportmisconduct.
Bonta stressed that people should not try to interfere with federal agents in their communities — and said the portal was a “safe, accessible way” for them to take action to report potentially unlawful federal actions.
Bonta’s office already had a process for accepting complaints about misconduct by local and state law enforcement, but generally only reviews them if the person filing the complaint has already notified the local agency, and it has failed to take action within a reasonable period of time.
Bonta’s office has filed dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration since January, including to challenge the deployments or actions of federal law enforcement and immigration agents and military personnel in the state, as well as the administration’s attempts to tie various types of federal funding to state compliance with its immigration agenda.