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Nov. 18, 2025, 4:37 PM ESTBy Lawrence HurleyWASHINGTON — Seizing on allegations of federal law enforcement officials’ committing constitutional violations as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, Democrats have launched a new effort to allow civil rights claims against rogue agents.Lawmakers reintroduced legislation Tuesday that would ensure federal officials, including immigration agents and other law enforcement officers, can be sued individually for constitutional violations.The bill, introduced in the House and the Senate by Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., would amend a post-Civil War-era law that allows such claims against state and local officials to make it clear that federal officials are covered, too.More than 130 arrested in Charlotte immigration raids02:13″Under this lawless administration, federal officers are using excessive force and violating constitutional rights in our streets with impunity,” Johnson said in a statement. “If federal officials violate the Constitution, they should be held accountable, full stop.”The legislation also comes as Republican senators have come under fire for including a provision in the bill that ended the government shutdown that would allow eight GOP senators to sue the Justice Department after their cellphone records were obtained without their knowledge.Since Trump began his second term in January, his administration has launched an aggressive immigration crackdown. Civil rights groups charge that agents have regularly committed constitutional violations by, among other things, using excessive force or carrying out allegedly unlawful entries.A judge in Chicago issued an injunction this month that restricts federal agents’ use of force in response to such allegations.While the focus is ostensibly on immigrants who entered the country illegally, legal residents and some U.S. citizens have also been swept up. Federal officers have also been involved in clashes with protesters.The Supreme Court in 1971 ruled in a case called Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents that federal agents could be sued individually, but the court has since retreated from that finding. In a 2022 ruling, it specifically said Border Patrol agents cannot be individually sued for violating someone’s constitutional rights.In the 12 months after that ruling, lower courts cited it 228 times in a variety of cases against all kinds of federal officials, NBC News found in a 2023 investigation. In 195 of those cases, constitutional claims were dismissed.The legislation, which has been introduced in the past but made little progress, “would reopen the courthouse doors to these victims and encourage more responsible conduct by federal officials,” Whitehouse said in a statement.Under current law, people can sue the federal government directly under a law called the Federal Tort Claims Act, but damages there are limited, and there is no chance of a jury trial.Lawrence HurleyLawrence Hurley is a senior Supreme Court reporter for NBC News.

- Latest News - November 19, 2025

Democrats reintroduced legislation that would ensure federal officials, including immigration agents and other law enforcement officers, can be sued individually for constitutional violations.

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Nov. 18, 2025, 4:20 PM ESTBy Erik OrtizA whistleblower who came forward to House Democrats alleging convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell received preferential treatment at a federal prison camp in Texas says she was not motivated by politics.Instead, “this was about common human decency and doing what’s right for all inmates,” Noella Turnage, a nurse who worked at Federal Prison Camp Bryan since 2019 until she was fired last week, told NBC News on Monday.She added that when even one inmate is wrongly retaliated against, “and influence gets another one protected, somebody had to say something.”The entrance to Federal Prison Camp Bryan on Aug. 1, in Bryan, Texas.Brandon Bell / Getty ImagesMaxwell’s time at FPC Bryan, an all-women’s minimum-security facility, has come under scrutiny since her transfer there in early August from a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida. Her relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has become a focal point as Democrats and some Republicans renew their push to compel the Justice Department to make all investigative files surrounding Epstein’s case public.Turnage said she was not driven by public outrage surrounding Epstein, Maxwell or any other public figures, but acted because she felt “failed by the institution” when colleagues and others have spoken out about alleged leadership misconduct and retaliation.Noella Turnage.Courtesy Noella TurnageShe said the federal Bureau of Prisons fired her on Nov. 10. The decision came a day after the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, wrote a letter to President Donald Trump saying they had received information from a “whistleblower” indicating Maxwell was working on filing a “commutation application” and receiving special treatment not typically afforded to inmates at Bryan. The information obtained by the House Judiciary Committee included email correspondence that Maxwell sent during her first few months at the prison camp.Leah Saffian, an attorney for Maxwell, said Friday that employees at FPC Bryan lost their jobs in light of Maxwell’s emails being shared.There have been employees “terminated for improper, unauthorized access to the email system used by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to allow inmates to communicate with the outside world,” Saffian said in a statement.NBC News previously reviewed Maxwell’s emails which indicated she was “happier” with her move to a facility that was cleaner and where staff were friendly.Maxwell’s emails also suggested she had direct access to Bryan’s warden, Tanisha Hall, for help, including arranging visits and communicating with her lawyers — actions that are highly unusual, other attorneys with clients at the prison say.The BOP and Hall did not respond to requests for comment about employees terminated in connection with Maxwell.Turnage said she was in contact with the House Judiciary Committee after Raskin wrote a letter to Hall on Oct. 30 asking about Maxwell’s perceived “VIP treatment.”In that letter, Raskin said he was alarmed by news reports that the prison was giving special accommodations to Maxwell’s visitors and other alleged perks, such as meals sent to her dormitory room, late-night workouts and the ability to shower after other inmates were already in bed for the night.His inquiry also raised other accusations made by inmates that they have been threatened with retaliation if they speak about Maxwell to the media. At least two inmates have been transferred out of Bryan after doing so, according to media reports that reviewed BOP records. NBC News has not confirmed the reason for the transfers.Turnage and another former Bryan employee, Ashley Anderson, said they spoke with House Democratic committee staff about allegations that BOP policy has been repeatedly violated and retaliation exists against those who report wrongdoing.Ashley Anderson.Ashley AndersonAnderson, who had been a senior specialist officer at Bryan for a decade before she was terminated in August, said that she has tried to speak out in support of inmates who’ve reported alleged abuse but that there remain “flaws in a system that often lacks transparency, accountability, and fairness.”Saffian has called the release of Maxwell’s emails “improper” and denied that a pardon application had been made to the Trump administration. She also said she would be filing a habeas petition with the Southern District of New York to challenge Maxwell’s 20-year prison sentence for recruiting minors to be sexually abused by Epstein.Epstein died by suicide in a New York City jail in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.Maxwell’s transfer to FPC Bryan in early August came days after she met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in July. At that meeting, Maxwell told Blanche she never witnessed any inappropriate conduct by Trump or any other prominent figures associated with Epstein’s orbit, according to a transcript. Trump, whose name appeared in the unsealed records as a friend of Epstein’s before they had a falling out, has not been accused by authorities of any wrongdoing.Trump initially supported the release of documents related to Epstein before sparring with Democrats and some members of his own party, saying not all files should be made public.Last week, thousands of emails from the Epstein estate were released by the House Oversight Committee, including many that referenced Trump. On Sunday, Trump unexpectedly changed his stance on the issue, writing on his Truth Social account that House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files “because we have nothing to hide.”Turnage and Anderson said in a further statement that speaking to members of Congress about their time at Bryan was not about swaying the political narratives in the larger Epstein saga.“This was about truth, and nothing else,” they said. “It was about telling the truth about how both staff and inmates were treated.”Erik OrtizErik Ortiz is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital focusing on racial injustice and social inequality.

- Latest News - November 18, 2025

A whistleblower who came forward to House Democrats alleging convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell received preferential treatment at a federal prison camp in Texas says she was not motivated by.

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