US Immigration and Customs Enforcement will require its officers to record vehicle stops with at least one body camera, said Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s “border czar,” on Sunday.
The action comes as the agency is under renewed scrutiny after ICE officers fatally shot two men in Texas and Maine earlier this month.
“They exonerate more law enforcement than they convict, and I want officers to wear body cameras because I want the American people to see what the officers saw when they took that action,” Homan said on Fox & Friends Weekend.
No Footage from Recent Shootings
There is no body-camera footage from ICE agents involved in the fatal shootings of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston on July 7 or Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13.
Salgado, who was not the intended target of the ICE officers, was driving his construction crew to a job site when he was pursued and stopped. He had no criminal history, had lived in the US for 35 years, and was close to obtaining legal status, his family has said.
Durán was also not the target of an operation. The Department of Homeland Security claimed officers feared for their safety. Immigrant rights activists have said Durán was authorized to work in the US and had a social security number.
Cameras Purchased, Training Underway
In a separate interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, Homan said money for the cameras was held up during the partial government shutdown earlier this year.
“The cameras have been purchased right now,” Homan said. “They’re training the trainer in deploying the cameras nationwide.”
ICE launched a body-camera pilot program in 2024 and deployed cameras to officers in five cities: Baltimore, Buffalo, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. The Trump administration moved last year to slow-walk the program, urging Congress to cut funding by 75%.
In February, after the killing of two US citizens during an immigration crackdown in Minnesota, then-DHS chief Kristi Noem said the body-camera program would be rolled out to ICE agents nationwide “as funding is available.”
11 Fatal Shootings Since Trump’s Second Term
The killing of Durán was the 11th fatal shooting by federal immigration officials since Trump’s second term began, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, according to a Guardian review of public reports.
The back-to-back shootings sparked protests in Maine, Houston, and Boston, raising questions over ICE agents’ lack of body cameras.
FBI Will No Longer Investigate ICE Encounters
FBI agents will no longer be investigating confrontations with ICE agents, according to a New York Times report. Written notice was sent on Thursday of this decision.
Previously, these investigations could yield information used to prosecute ICE agents involved in violent encounters.
The Bottom Line
ICE will require officers to wear body cameras during vehicle stops after two fatal shootings in Texas and Maine. The cameras have been purchased, and training is underway. There is no footage from the recent shootings. The FBI will no longer investigate ICE confrontations. The back-to-back killings have sparked protests and renewed scrutiny of the agency’s tactics.
