Today MomsRising, the country’s leading moms advocacy group with more than a million members, delivered nearly 40,000 petition signatures from moms across the nation demanding that Congress reinstate the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD). The Trump administration took NLEAD offline early last year, vastly increasing the chance that law enforcement officers with shameful records of misconduct, excessive force, discrimination, or harassment at one department or agency will be hired by another.

Launched in 2023, NLEAD was a badly needed central repository for the professional records of law enforcement officers. Following the police murder of George Floyd, its purpose was to ensure that federal agencies and state and local police departments could check if people they were considering hiring had committed misconduct, so officers with histories of misconduct would no longer move unchecked between agencies.

“Without NLEAD, officers who have repeatedly committed misconduct are moving from one agency or jurisdiction to another, and families and communities are paying the price,” said Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director of MomsRising. “At a time when standards for hiring ICE officers are much too lax, histories of misconduct must be made public. Congress has the power to reinstate NLEAD and restore a basic safeguard that protects our communities and strengthens public trust. It is Congress’ responsibility to stand up to the Trump Department of Justice and restore transparency and accountability.” 

“Families deserve safety, accountability, and justice,” said Beatriz Beckford, MomsRising National Director for Youth & Family Justice. “Without this database, federal agents, including those in ICE and Customs and Border Patrol, operate without meaningful oversight. Officers with histories of misconduct can be hired and rehired, putting immigrant families, Black and Brown neighborhoods, and people with disabilities at particular risk. From Minneapolis to Los Angeles, Chicago to Charlotte, and so many cities in between, we are seeing the consequences when law enforcement officers abuse our human and constitutional rights. Families have lost loved ones. Immigrant parents are separated from their children. Communities are living in fear rather than feeling protected. These outcomes are precisely what NLEAD was designed to prevent.”

The MomsRising petitions were delivered to every office in both chambers of Congress today. It is here: https://action.momsrising.org/sign/NLEAD26ICECBP/?source=action