CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS APPROVE BILL BARRING ICE AGENTS FROM LATER BECOMING POLICE OFFICERS
California Democrats approved a bill barring ICE agents from later becoming police officers in the state, and it is now waiting on Gov. Gavin Newsom. If it becomes law, California would be the first state to write this kind of hiring bar into its police standards.
The bill is AB 1896, called the GTFO (Get the Feds Out) Act. It was written by Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez, a Democrat from Los Angeles and the Assembly Majority Whip, together with Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas of Salinas. The Assembly first passed it 53-21 on May 27. The state Senate passed it 29-10 on August 30, and the Assembly gave final approval 52-19 on August 31. The committee and floor votes largely followed party lines, with Democrats in favor and most Republicans opposed. Gonzalez, who represents Assembly District 54, unveiled the bill in February 2026 under the GTFO name, and the Speaker's co-authorship gave it a clear path through the Democratic supermajority in both houses.
Under the bill, anyone who worked as a sworn officer or individual contractor and "personally engaged in immigration enforcement" would be disqualified from becoming a California peace officer. The same people would be barred from jobs with any city, county, district or other public agency, not only police departments. Applicants would have to disclose that work under penalty of perjury. Background checks could review news articles, verified social media posts and civil complaints to confirm whether an applicant took part in enforcement. The bar applies to contractors as well as sworn federal officers.
The ban is not absolute, which is why some headlines overstate it. A person is not disqualified if the hiring agency runs a background check and a case-by-case suitability review under standards set by the state's police training commission, known as POST, and then approves them for the police academy. Earlier drafts and some news reports described a service window or a ten-year waiting period. Neither appears in the final text sent to the governor.
The bill also does not deal with face masks worn by federal agents during arrests. That issue is covered by a separate bill, SB 1004.
Supporters say the bill keeps federal immigration tactics out of local policing and protects trust between police and immigrant communities. Opponents say it punishes people for doing a legal federal job, creates a legal conflict with federal authority, and shrinks the pool of trained applicants at a time when many California departments are short of officers.
New since the original post: the bill reached Gov. Newsom on September 14, and he has until September 30, 2026 to act. If he neither signs nor vetoes it by then, it becomes law without his signature. Even if it becomes law, it would not take effect until January 1, 2028, which means the first hiring decisions affected would come more than a year from now.
Should former ICE agents be allowed to join local police departments in California? YES OR NO?
