Swalwell promises if elected governor, former ICE agents would be ‘un-hirable’ in California

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., appeared to say on Tuesday that if he is elected governor, former ICE agents would be forbidden from any future employment or even driver’s licenses in California.

The efforts to enforce President Donald Trump’s campaign promise of mass deportations has met massive resistance in Minnesota, particularly after the deaths of two protesters at the hands of law enforcement. Now, federal law enforcement agencies engaged in deportation operations have faced criticism to the point where there are calls for leadership like Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to step down or be impeached.

“You said one of the things you need to see is Noem out,” CNN host Kate Bolduan. “Since Alex Pretti was shot, it does seem that support for an effort that‘s been making its way in the House, an effort to force a vote to bring articles of impeachment against Noem has gotten more support and a bit turbocharged. But after the two impeachment efforts against Trump, which you were involved with, impeachment has become politically fraught for Democrats. Are you concerned a real push to impeach Kristi Noem could backfire?”

“We’re not going to just let people be lawless and tell the American people we can’t do something about it,” Swalwell said. “And when you publicly execute two people within 10 days, there have to be consequences.”

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“Of course, when Democrats in the majority were going to impeach the tariffs that the president has put on the American people, we can do it all,” Swalwell said. “But I also call on governors. Kate, governors have immense powers. And I have said that when I‘m governor of California, if you wear a mask in California, you‘re losing your driver’s license. If you have worked for ICE in the past, you are un-hirable in our state. That law enforcement will prosecute you for kidnapping, battery, assault, murder on the people in our communities.”

He continued, “We have to go on offense as governors. Otherwise, the most vulnerable people in our communities and the people who are protecting them, like Pretti and Good, will continue to be killed.”

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This was a step up from his rhetoric earlier this month when he argued that he, as governor, would use emergency powers to merely bar former ICE agents from state jobs in California.

“As governor, I’ll use my emergency powers, and I’ll tell every state agency, ‘We are not, as a policy, hiring ICE agents.’ Because right now, these guys doing this work, it’s a decision. No one’s holding a gun and saying you have to work for ICE,” Swalwell said earlier this month.

Swalwell’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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