Attorney Benjamin A. Berkman Witness Statement on Path to Accountability for Federal Officers and Agencies

Attorney Benjamin A. Berkman, Romanucci & Blandin LLC

Witness Statement on Path to Accountability for Federal Officers and Agencies

March 10, 2026 (hispanicfederation: The People’s Hearing on Immigration Enforcement: Minnesota)

Hello, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

My name is Ben Berkman, and I am a civil rights attorney at the law firm of Romanucci & Blandin with the deep honor of representing the family of Renee Good. My colleagues and I are deeply distressed at the incursions on fellow Americans’ civil rights by our own government. The occupation of our cities by ICE and CBP has strayed far beyond their stated mission to go after the worst of the worst, leading to unnecessary provocation that has struck fear in our communities and caused immense pain and suffering. What happened to Renee, Alex Pretti, Marimar Martinez and countless others is intolerable in a civilized society and has led to a collective cry not only for justice and accountability, but also for this to stop.

I would like to start by talking for a moment about Renee. I never knew Renee, but I’ve learned a lot about her from the people who knew her best. Renee was a mother who deeply loved her three children. She served on the board at her youngest son’s school, where she had just dropped him off on the morning of January 7. Renee was the glue of her family. She was totally and completely selfless with her time; she was someone who, if you got a new opportunity or something good happened to you, she would be more excited for you than you would be. She would spend her time and money to ensure she saw her family even when time and money were hard to come by. She would take twelve-hour road trips to make sure everyone could be together. She radiated joy and cared so deeply about other people.

I wanted to describe Renee in part to help people get to know who she was outside of one horrifying newsreel, but also to counter the absurd and false statements made about her by those in the highest rungs of power. The notion that Renee was a ... quote...“domestic terrorist” ... unquote.... is false and just so far from who she was as a person. We need an immediate end to these false narratives and cover stories by federal officials about the victims of excessive force. In America, our leaders must be held to a standard of responsible speech and truth.

I would also like to talk about the need for transparency. In Renee’s case, the federal government immediately declared that there would be no investigation into her killer’s actions. It is currently unclear if any federal criminal investigation is ongoing into Jonathan Ross’s conduct. Without an unbiased and thorough investigation, the criminal justice path for accountability for Renee’s death may never materialize.

Transparency requires that the government is honest about what the law requires. So I want to be clear about one thing: no matter what those in power say, there is no absolute CRIMINAL immunity for immigration enforcement agents. While this administration may choose not to prosecute bad actors, that does not mean the next administration will take the same position. Instructing agents that they have absolute immunity is not only false—it creates a false perception that leads agents to behave as though they will suffer no consequences for violating the rights of others.

There could not be a more dangerous message to send to armed agents wielding the power of the state.
But today, I want to draw your attention to civil remedies for constitutional violations. In the face of other investigative bodies failing to act, those whose rights are violated by federal authorities must turn to the civil justice system for accountability. Unfortunately, in the civil justice system, the deck is stacked against accountability for federal officers.

Under a law passed in 1871 called 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, the United States allows for individuals to pursue civil justice with a suit against a city, county or state for the conduct of its officers – and against the officers individually. However, similar legal action against federal law enforcement officers, like ICE or Border Patrol agents, is not currently authorized under Section 1983.
There used to be a time when federal law enforcement officers could be sued civilly directly for constitutional violations. But the Supreme Court has whittled that cause of action down to the point that it is almost non-existent. Overall, there are very few ways to pursue civil accountability against a federal agent who violates your rights.

Victims have a possible path to some measure of civil accountability under the Federal Tort Claims Act or FTCA. In an FTCA case, you are not suing the federal agent or officer; you are suing the United States. But even the FTCA is challenging. It requires first the filing of a claim with the government agency that has harmed you, and then waiting up to six months for a reply. And even when you get to the doorsteps of the courthouse by filing a civil case, the law has a broad exception to liability for so-called “discretionary acts,” which does not allow for cases against individual officers, and you are deprived of the right to a jury of your peers. The government has decided that the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial does not apply when you are suing the government.

Victims of constitutional violations should not have to require the permission of the federal government to sue the federal government and its agents for cases like Renee’s or Alex Pretti’s. If the government must give victims permission to seek accountability for violationof Constitutional rights, then their rights are just words on paper. Rights are not rights without remedies.

This problem requires legislative solutions. At the state level, Minnesota and other states can pass bills, as some states have, making it a state law tort to violate constitutional rights and thereby directly enable lawsuits against federal officers. And Congress can amend Section 1983 to add four words, “or the United States,” so that federal officers, in addition to state and local officers, can be sued civilly if their conduct merits it.

The current path to hold federal officers accountable is a narrow and uphill climb. That will not deter us in the slightest from pursuing justice for Renee and our clients. But the system can and must change to ensure that our constitutional guarantees are not just words on paper.

I thank you for your time.