Duckworth Pushes to Allow Wrongfully Detained Citizens—and Families of Citizens Wrongfully Killed—by Trump’s Agents to Sue Federal Government

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) introduced an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act today that would empower the families of U.S. citizens who were wrongfully killed by Trump’s lawless agents, as well as each citizen who was wrongfully detained and then released by Trump’s reckless agents, to sue the federal government for at least $500,000. Duckworth’s Citizens Are As Important As Senators amendment is modeled on language Senate Republicans snuck into November’s government funding bill which bestowed similar rights upon every U.S. Senator and was proposed in response to Senate Republicans’ phone records being lawfully collected as part of the Special Counsel’s criminal investigation into the January 6th insurrection.

“Donald Trump’s out-of-control and extreme enforcement tactics have resulted in two U.S. citizens being publicly executed in the street by their own government—and at least 200 more have been wrongfully detained, with most of them later being released without charges,” said Duckworth. “Each and every one of these citizens deserves the same right to sue the federal government for violating their constitutional liberties—and especially for wrongfully killing their loved ones—that Republican Senators have lavishly bestowed upon themselves. Plain and simple.”

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Duckworth’s legislation, just like Senate Republicans’ language in November’s Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, would be retroactive—enabling citizens from Chicago, to Minneapolis–Saint Paul, to Los Angeles, to Portland and beyond who were wrongfully detained and released by Trump’s agents since 2025 to sue the federal government. The legislation would extend this same right to file suit against the government to citizens whose family members were wrongfully killed by Trump’s agents, including the families of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Duckworth is pushing for justice for Alex Pretti, Renee Good and others who have been victimized by Trump’s agents’ excessive and too often fatal uses of force. She is leading an amendment to the DHS Appropriations Act that would force the DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) to deploy criminal investigators and other personnel to conduct transparent and independent investigations, in coordination with state law enforcement authorities, into DHS agents’ excessive uses of force against our neighbors and loved ones. Duckworth also announced she would not vote to give one more cent to Trump’s lawless DHS agents as they continue to terrorize our communities and murder American citizens in broad daylight.

The Senator first called on the DHS and Department of Justice (DOJ) OIGs to investigate officer-involved use of force incidents over 100 days ago, following a series of shockingly violent assaults and reckless shootings by Trump’s masked agents against American citizens in Illinois, and Duckworth reiterated and expanded her request following the brutal killing of Renee Good. Shamefully, just days before Trump’s agents murdered Alex Pretti, the DHS and DOJ OIGs—both of whom Trump appointed—denied Duckworth’s request.

A copy of the bill text can be found on Senator Duckworth’s website.

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