Yesterday, San Francisco billionaire and gubernatorial hopeful Tom Steyer dropped a blistering immigration manifesto that calls for California to effectively abolish ICE inside state lines, criminally prosecute its agents and shut down immigration jails across the state. The plan, titled "How California Can Put ICE in Jail," instantly threw Steyer's campaign into fresh controversy by colliding head-on with his past as founder of Farallon Capital.
What Steyer Is Proposing
In a Substack post titled "How California Can Put ICE in Jail," Steyer argues that ICE has turned into a criminal enterprise and urges California to put ICE agents and their leadership in jail for their crimes, outlining a five-point strategy to expand state prosecution powers and bolster legal defense for detained immigrants. As laid out by Tom Steyer, the blueprint calls for new anti-profiling laws, expanded authority for the state attorney general to bring criminal charges, a dedicated investigative unit, public-defender-style resources for immigration cases and a broad "Know Your Rights" campaign.
How The Plan Reads
The plan would bar state and local law-enforcement agencies from cooperating with ICE and seek criminal penalties for officials who help federal deportation operations, according to RealClearPolitics. That coverage notes the proposal could spark immediate legal showdowns over federal authority, even as it hands Steyer a sharp contrast with more moderate Democrats on criminal justice and immigration enforcement.
His Record Makes The Pitch Harder
Steyer's new hard line lands after months of scrutiny over Farallon Capital's mid-2000s investment in Corrections Corporation of America, now CoreCivic, stakes that federal filings and reporting place at about $89.1 million at one point, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Times noted that Steyer has labeled the investment a mistake, a quote opponents now wield regularly at town halls and across social media. CoreCivic's own facility pages and local reporting show the company operates major immigration jails in California, including the Otay Mesa Detention Center near San Diego and the large California City facility in Kern County; see CoreCivic and KQED.
Where This Leaves The Campaign
The timing of Steyer's manifesto coincides with a bump in polling and endorsements that has reshaped a crowded primary: a recent SurveyUSA poll for KGTV and the San Diego Union-Tribune put Steyer near the front of the pack, and his campaign has picked up key labor backing, RealClearPolitics reported. That mix of momentum helps explain why Steyer is staking out such an aggressive stance on ICE now, even as it hands rivals fresh talking points about his financial past.
Legal Obstacles And Likely Court Battles
Legal scholars caution that any state effort to criminally prosecute federal officers would almost certainly trigger rapid federal litigation over Supremacy Clause immunity and preemption, and similar clashes have already landed other cases in federal court, legal analysts note. As explained by Lawfare, states have at times prosecuted federal officials, but those cases often turn on whether agents were acting within the scope of their federal duties.
Steyer's campaign frames the manifesto as a push for accountability and protection of vulnerable Californians, and he has repeatedly apologized for the private-prison investment and called it a mistake, the Los Angeles Times reported. With the June 2 primary fast approaching, the proposal will test whether voters are comfortable with a candidate who wants to pit expansive state power against federal immigration enforcement while still answering for a Wall Street past tied to private prisons.
