Congress narrows immunity shield for ICE and CBP officers in civil rights suits
H.R. 7284 — ICE OUT Act · Filed by Dan Goldman (D-NY) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill narrows qualified immunity protections for ICE and CBP officers in lawsuits. It eliminates immunity entirely for excessive force claims under the Fourth Amendment, and for all other claims it requires courts to first ask whether the officer's conduct violated constitutional rights before asking whether those rights were 'clearly established' at the time—reversing the current legal order and making it easier for citizens to sue and win.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is narrowing qualified immunity for ICE/CBP officers in civil rights suits. It does not create new substantive rights or establish new agency powers; it removes a procedural defense that shields officers from liability for constitutional violations.
What the text implies
- Increases litigation risk and potential liability exposure for ICE and CBP, which may affect agency budgets if damage awards or settlement costs rise significantly.
- The reordering of the immunity test (constitutional violation first, then clearly established law) may increase motion-to-dismiss denials and allow more cases to proceed to discovery and trial, raising litigation costs for the government.
- Does not create a private right of action or new damages remedy—it operates only within the existing § 1983 framework, so impact depends on plaintiffs' ability to identify and pursue claims.
- Applies only to ICE and CBP officers; does not affect qualified immunity for other federal law enforcement (FBI, DEA, etc.) or state/local police, creating a sector-specific liability regime.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens subjected to excessive force or other constitutional violations by ICE/CBP officers gain a direct legal remedy by removing a major immunity shield and lowering procedural barriers to suit. The bill does not create new rights—it removes a defense that currently blocks enforcement of existing constitutional protections.
Who stands to gain
- civil rights attorneys and plaintiff's bar (increased litigation and fee-shifting opportunities unde
Named in the bill
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Fourth Amendment, Revised Statutes Section 1979
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 4 Democrats.
- Jan 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 30, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $70,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 14 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Dan Goldman, the sponsor, reported $407,029 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Solvay Chemicals Inc. — $70,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,374 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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