Press Release: 12/8/2025

Moulton Introduces the NOEM Act to Hold ICE Officers Accountable for Constitutional Violations

 

December 8, 2025 

 

SALEM, MA - Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-06) has introduced the National Oversight and Enforcement of Misconduct Act (NOEM Act) which would permit victims of constitutional violations committed by federal immigration enforcement officers—including masked agents running roughshod on our streets—to sue those officers in federal court. 

For years, immigration agents have operated with near-total immunity when they violate Americans’ rights on the street, during home raids, or in public spaces. The introduction of the legislation comes after months of widely documented civil rights violations against the public, including American Citizens. 

“Right now, if an ICE officer violates someone’s Fourth or Fifth Amendment rights, victims have almost no legal recourse,” said Congressman Moulton. "The NOEM Act fixes that. ICE is not above the law—and if its officers break the law, they should be held accountable in court.”

What the NOEM Act does:

Under current federal law, victims of constitutional violations can only sue state and local officials under 42 U.S.C. § 1983—the statute that underpins countless civil rights cases, including those involving police brutality. But § 1983 does not apply to federal officers. Instead, victims must rely on a judge-made doctrine known as Bivens. In recent years, the Supreme Court has nearly eliminated Bivens remedies, leaving victims with virtually no path to justice when federal officers violate their rights.

The NOEM Act directly addresses this gap by amending 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to explicitly apply to individuals acting “under federal immigration enforcement authority.”

This simple, targeted amendment ensures that ICE and other federal immigration enforcement officers can be held liable in the same way as any state or local law enforcement officer when they violate a person’s constitutional rights.

 

The NOEM Act focuses solely on immigration-related federal officers, ensuring it does not duplicate prior legislation introduced to broadly extend Bivens across all federal agencies. Instead, it addresses the area where abuses are especially prevalent and where victims are most systematically denied remedies.

Full text of the bill can be found here. 

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