S 2479Police & Prisons

State Affairs and Government - Law Enforcement Officers’ Due Process, Accountability, and Transparency Act - Ice Out Act

Bans RI police agencies from hiring anyone who became a sworn ICE officer on or after January 20, 2025.

Held for study

Population
Affected

Introduced Feb 6, 2026Committee Senate Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends the Rhode Island "Law Enforcement Officers’ Due Process, Accountability, and Transparency Act." It establishes a prohibition on Rhode Island law enforcement agencies regarding their hiring practices. Specifically, agencies are forbidden from employing any individual who served as a sworn officer for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency if that individual was hired by ICE on or after January 20, 2025. This restriction is prospective, meaning it applies to future hiring decisions and does not impact individuals employed by Rhode Island agencies prior to the bill's effective date.

For younger readers

This new law creates a rule for police departments in Rhode Island when they are hiring new officers. It says that the police departments cannot give a job to anyone who used to work as an officer for a federal group called ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), if that person started working there on or after January 20, 2025. This rule is for the future and does not mean that current police officers in Rhode Island will lose their jobs.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups

Law Enforcement AgenciesJob ApplicantsFormer ICE OfficersImmigrant CommunitiesPolice Unions

Impacted communities

All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

Moderate risk

Moderate Risk. The bill discriminates against a specific class of individuals based on their prior lawful employment with the federal government. This could potentially be challenged under the Supremacy Clause (interfering with federal operations) or Equal Protection principles, though states generally have broad rights to determine qualifications for their own employees. The specific date cutoff makes the classification arbitrary, which increases vulnerability to legal challenge.

Estimated cost

None

Estimated revenue

None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints

For Progressives

Prevents the integration of federal immigration enforcement culture into local community policing, potentially reducing fear within immigrant communities and encouraging cooperation with local law enforcement.
Take a systemic stance against specific federal immigration policies associated with the timeframe starting January 20, 2025, ensuring state resources are not used to validate those federal practices.
Promotes a community-focused model of public safety by screening out personnel who have been trained in federal deportation and border enforcement tactics that may conflict with local de-escalation and restorative justice priorities.
Limits the pool of trained and experienced law enforcement candidates available to the state, which could hinder efforts to fully staff police departments and provide adequate public services.
The specific date cutoff creates an arbitrary distinction that may not effectively filter out all individuals with ideologies incompatible with progressive policing values, as it allows those hired by ICE before 2025.
Could invite costly legal challenges based on employment discrimination or federal supremacy, diverting taxpayer money away from social programs and community welfare.

For Conservatives

Asserts state sovereignty and local control over the composition of state and municipal workforces, resisting the automatic transfer of federal personnel into local roles.
Protects the jobs of currently employed officers through a grandfather clause, ensuring that no existing contracts or employment agreements are violated by the new regulation.
Ensures that local law enforcement agencies prioritize candidates trained specifically in state and local laws rather than federal administrative codes, potentially streamlining local operations.
Discriminates against qualified law enforcement professionals who have served their country at the federal level, effectively punishing them for their service in upholding immigration laws.
Undermines public safety and the rule of law by arbitrarily shrinking the applicant pool for police officers, which is already facing shortages, thereby weakening the police force.
Signals a lack of cooperation with federal law enforcement partners and creates a political divide that may hinder joint task forces or information sharing regarding criminal activity.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 6 additions

SECTION 1. Chapter 42-28.6 of the General Laws entitled "Law Enforcement Officers’ Due Process, Accountability, and Transparency Act" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 42-28.6-19. Prohibition against hiring immigration and customs (I.C.E.) officers.

(a) A law enforcement agency, as defined by § 42-164-2, 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.

(b) This section applies prospectively only and does not apply to any individual hired by the agency prior to the effective date of this section.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on October 1, 2026