A pardoned participant in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection who is running for the U.S. Senate in Florida says he wants to deputize the Proud Boys and other Capitol rioters to conduct immigration enforcement. Edward “Jake” Lang told Newsweek of his plan in a report published on Wednesday.
“I would deputize the Proud Boys and the January 6 Patriots to bounty hunt illegal immigrants,” Lang told the news outlet.
The Proud Boys are a far-right extremist group that promotes white nationalist views and has been associated with political violence, and some members have faced criminal convictions for their actions.
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GOP primary
Since he and other Jan. 6 defendants were pardoned by President Donald Trump in January, Lang has campaigned for the Republican nomination for the Senate, hoping to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Ashley Moody in next year’s GOP primary. He has pushed for tougher immigration policies and more loyalty to Trump within the GOP.
Lang said his plan involves formally authorizing members of the Proud Boys and Jan. 6 protesters to find and detain immigrants without legal status in the U.S.
“We would offer a bounty to work with local sheriffs and deputize and give legal access to be able to have these people join en masse and be able to work alongside federal law enforcement to provide tips, to provide information, and to go out and make the arrests of these illegal immigrants,” Lang told Newsweek.
Analysts question legality
Legal analysts aren’t convinced that the proposal is constitutional, noting tight restrictions in U.S. law. Being federally deputized largely involves state and local police officers performing duties under agreements, such as provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act, or empowered federal deputies, not private citizens. In rare circumstances, private citizens are granted special deputizations, but those cases involve stringent regulations and very specific circumstances.
Analysts note that without clear legal authority and oversight to perform such an action, it’s improbable that private groups could carry out immigration enforcement. They also expressed concerns about groups like the Proud Boys, some of whose members have criminal records, engaging in such actions.
Expanded ICE recruitment efforts
Lang’s proposal comes as the Trump administration vastly expands its recruitment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The administration has also relaxed some hiring requirements to attract more personnel.
The Guardian reported that the hasty recruitment and loosened rules have raised concerns about improper vetting of immigration agents who may have criminal records, including those involved in the Jan. 6 riot.
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President Trump gave pardons and issued commutations on Jan. 1 for many charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, including Proud Boys leaders Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes.
“The scary ones are the people who want to be Trump’s private army, the insurrectionists, the Proud Boys, the Klansmen and others who might be coming out of the woodwork,” Scott Shuchart, a former ICE official under former President Joe Biden, told The Guardian.
Criticism of Lang’s proposal
A law professor who spoke with Newsweek condemned Lang’s idea.
“Jake Lang’s plan as a U.S. senator from Florida to deputize violent, white racist vigilantes to enforce immigration laws is insane and would bring the country much closer to a police state,” Bennett Gershman of Pace University’s law school said, also arguing that the move would be unconstitutional.
Lang pushes back
Lang defended his idea, as well as those who participated in the Jan. 6 riot. He denied that he and others intended to subvert the democratic process of certifying that Biden won the 2020 presidential election.
“We were not trying to stop any type of democratic process,” Lang asserted. “We were there in fact, supporting a free, fair and legitimate election. It was the people, the Democratic Party, who stole the election: that was them trying to disrupt the democratic process. The American patriots who showed up on January 6 were doing their duty as citizens to ensure the will of the people was exercised. Furthermore, the Floridian voters are the most MAGA people in the country.”
Numerous investigations and court cases have determined that Biden was the legitimate winner of the 2020 election.
Lang was charged with attacking police during the Capitol riot, but was pardoned by Trump on Jan. 20. He announced his Senate candidacy days later.
