Blue state proposal targets Trump-era ICE hires, banning them from joining local police forces

Immigration enforcement agents, including those within ICE, have come under fire in recent months from Democratic lawmakers and governors opposed to the tactics involved in Trump's mass deportation agenda, which the president has said are necessary due to the open-border effects of the Biden era.

"A law enforcement agency… shall not employ any individual who was hired as a sworn officer of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency on or after January 20, 2025," the bill reads.

The policy would take effect in October 2026 and would not affect any officers already hired out of ICE's ranks.

In response, Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital that "sanctuary politicians" in Rhode Island are wrongly casting ICE agents as villains while they continue to be targeted, threatened and doxxed just for doing their jobs.

"They should be grateful that these newly hired ICE officers stepped up to keep criminal illegal aliens off of Rhode Island's streets," Bis said.

"To most Americans, our ICE officers are heroes as they put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists."

"[Providence] has the responsibility to manage such property in a manner that ensures public trust, access and delivery of essential city services for all residents," the mayor's order read in part.