S. 3745 — ICE and CBP Constitutional Accountability Act

This section states congressional findings that (1) the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments protect fundamental rights; (2) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel have undermined those rights through due process violations, racial profiling, unreasonable and warrantless searches and seizures, and privacy and free speech infringements; (3) such conduct has caused needless injuries, deaths, and public distrust of the federal government; and (4) civil suits provide remedies for rights violations by government officials.

This section amends the Federal Tort Claims Act (28 U.S.C. 2674) to establish U.S. government liability for deprivations of constitutional or federal rights by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, agents, or persons acting under their direction while acting under color of law, regardless of any Department of Homeland Security policy, custom, or practice. Damages are payable first from appropriations under title IX and sections 100051 and 100052 of Public Law 119-21, and if depleted, from the Judgment Fund (31 U.S.C. 1304); the administrative claim requirement (28 U.S.C. 2675(a)) does not apply; punitive damages are authorized notwithstanding other law; and the provision constitutes a sovereign immunity waiver specific to CBP and ICE. (Thus, plaintiffs may sue the United States directly without prior agency exhaustion and seek punitive damages otherwise unavailable under the Federal Tort Claims Act.) The provision does not limit remedies against individual officers, agents, or other persons.