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Swalwell vows to make ICE agents 'unhirable' for California state government positions
By Hanna Panreck
Published January 22, 2026
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said he was going to bar California from hiring ICE officers should he win the gubernatorial election in November.
Speaking to Katie Phang Wednesday, Swalwell said ICE agents would be "unhirable" in the state should he become governor, adding, through his emergency powers, state policy would be to not hire ICE agents.
"It's often the case that law enforcement officers will want to lateral from one department to another. And as governor, I'll use my emergency powers, and I'll tell every state agency, 'We are not, as a policy, hiring ICE agents." Because right now, these guys doing this work, it's a decision. No one's holding a gun and saying you have to work for ICE," Swalwell told Phang.
Rep. Eric Swalwell delivers a speech as he attends the SEIU-United Service Workers West Gubernatorial Candidate Worker Forum at Meruelo Studios in Los Angeles Jan. 10, 2026. (Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images)
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"So, when I'm governor, if you're still working for ICE and you haven't got the message that no one's asking you to do this, you won't be hired in the state."
The California lawmaker said he couldn't take on any other crisis until he does the job of being "a fighter protector for Californians."
ICE did not immediately return a request to Fox News Digital for comment.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., speaks during a House Judiciary Committee hearing with FBI Director Kash Patel in the Rayburn House Office Building Sept. 17, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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Swalwell said earlier this month he intended to revoke the driver's licenses of federal immigration agents who wear masks in an interview with MS Now.
"If the president is going to send ICE agents to chase immigrants through the fields where they work, what I'm going to is make them take off their masks and show their faces, that they show their identification, and if they commit crimes, that they're going to be charged with crimes," he said.
"If the governor has the ability to issue driver’s licenses to people in California, if you’re going to wear a mask and not identify yourself, you’re not going to be eligible to drive a vehicle in California."
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Swalwell announced he was running for governor in November during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's show.
The Democratic lawmaker vowed to be a "protector and fighter" if elected governor.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/swalwell-vows-make-ice-agents-un-hirable-california-state-government-positions