Boosted by a $240 billion budget, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has spent millions on local advertising campaigns, including in California cities, to recruit local police. Earlier this year, an AP investigation found few guardrails and minimal vetting in ICE’s hiring spree, while the San Francisco Chronicle reviewed federal requests for proposals and found that ICE is searching for “coworking locations” in at least eight California cities.
Yet amid the growing and opaque ranks of ICE agents and their contractors snatching parents and neighbors off our streets, Californians like you and me have no idea whether state and local officers are “moonlighting” in mass deportation jobs. There’s nothing in California law that prevents local police from taking side jobs with ICE or the private corporations aiding federal immigration enforcement. Conversely, ICE is spending more time and money than it ever has before to pull more local enforcement into its web.
For 35 years, I served in California law enforcement, including 33 years with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office. I retired as the agency’s third-in-command. I know as well as anyone that many local law enforcement take off-duty jobs to help their families. And, I know equally well how our state’s current system lacks robust oversight.
In January, CBS News and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism analyzed off-duty employment policies of police agencies across the country, including 13 California agencies like Los Angeles, Oakland, Orange County San Diego, and San Jose. Of those, just two require that an officer’s history is checked before they receive approval for off-duty work. Only three track off-duty employment hours, while just seven have limits on that time.
Meanwhile, California has drawn clear lines around what state and local officers may do on duty when it comes to federal immigration enforcement. Still, those lines mean little if the same officers can get an extra paycheck from ICE, Customs and Border Patrol or a Department of Homeland Security contractor to do the very work the state has forbidden when they are in uniform.
The good news is that Assembly Bill 1537, the “No Side Jobs for ICE Act,” by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, closes this loophole. After passing the Senate 27 to 11, it’s on the governor’s desk.
As with most bills, it has sharpened over time. After amendments, it targets one specific class of secondary employment: arresting, detaining, transporting or deporting individuals pursuant to federal or out-of-state immigration laws.
At first glance, the “out-of-state” language may seem surprising, but it matters immensely. Recently, the Fifth Circuit allowed Texas’ Senate Bill 4 to take effect, which means Texas state and local officers can arrest people on immigration grounds and Texas judges can issue state-level deportation orders. You may be asking, what does this have to do with California?
In light of reports that show some officers in the Los Angeles and San Francisco police departments live in Texas and other states, it’s entirely possible for a California law enforcement officer to find extra work in their home state with an agency that is carrying out this state-level deportation scheme, regardless of who pays their primary salary. Californians deserve reasonable confidence and security that their local officers are focused on local needs. However, without AB 1537, that trust is put at risk.
While a handful of law enforcement associations have claimed falsely that the bill has broad implications on officers’ activities, even a high level reading of the bill language puts those fallacies to rest. AB 1537 clearly allows joint task force participation as primary employment, as well as service in every branch of the armed forces, including the Coast Guard Reserve. Moreover, the bill’s recordkeeping and disclosure provisions are what any effective and responsible agency should already be doing.
Like many of my colleagues, I joined California law enforcement to protect my community. The rank and file hold that mission sacred. And for the public to believe our dedication, quiet recruitment into the federal deportation apparatus during our off-hours should never be possible.
David A. Myers is a retired commander in the San Diego Sheriff’s Office with 35 years of service. He served as director of safety and security at Jewish Family Service of San Diego from 2023 to 2025.
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