ICE Solves Civil Rights Liability By Insuring It
The Trump administration unveiled a new standard for law enforcement accountability Monday, ensuring that accountability will be federally subsidized, privately insured and assigned to someone in claims processing. ICE is considering reimbursing state and local officers up to $250 annually for personal liability insurance offering as much as $500,000 in coverage. The benefit would apply to officers deputized through the agency’s 287(g) partnerships, which authorize local police to question and arrest people suspected of immigration violations. Officers could therefore enforce federal law with the confidence of a rental-car customer who purchased the premium damage waiver and stopped reading.
President Donald Trump praised the proposal as a decisive advance in constitutional administration. “This is tremendous insurance, maybe the most beautiful insurance anybody has ever seen, because officers cannot be expected to remember every right while arresting people,” Trump said. “If they search the wrong house or become extremely enthusiastic, insurance means the Constitution has already been handled.” Nearly 1,600 agencies in 32 states participate in ICE’s task-force model, giving thousands of local officers the opportunity to expand federal immigration enforcement without the traditional burden of wondering who pays after a court determines they should not have done that.
The proposal follows concerns that ordinary municipal policies may not cover lawsuits involving wrongful arrests, excessive force or unlawful searches conducted during federal immigration operations. Pennsylvania’s county risk pool recently excluded proactive immigration enforcement, applying the antiquated insurance principle that unusually risky conduct constitutes a risk. Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe obtained separate coverage for 13 participating deputies at an annual cost of roughly $20,000, demonstrating that civil liberties remain affordable when purchased in bulk. ICE expects the reimbursement to attract departments previously reluctant to join because of legal exposure, local opposition or residual familiarity with the Fourth Amendment. Under the administration’s plan, civil-rights violations will no longer create liability, because liability is now a reimbursable federal benefit.
* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.