White House border czar urges body cameras after ICE shootings
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White House immigration adviser Tom Homan said body cameras are needed for ICE officers following fatal shootings in Texas and Maine, and noted recent DHS funding to expand their use.
White House immigration adviser Tom Homan told "Face the Nation" on Sunday that body-camera footage would let the public see what an ICE officer sees and hears when a use-of-force decision is made. The comments came after two recent incidents in which ICE agents shot and killed a Mexican national in Houston on July 7 and a Colombian man in Biddeford, Maine, neither of whom were wearing body cameras.
Homan said the cameras would provide transparency that “the American people need to see what that officer sees and hears.” He added that while witness or city cameras exist, they do not capture the officer’s perspective.
The Department of Homeland Security announced last week that every ICE arrest team will have at least one officer equipped with a camera, noting that more than half of ICE field offices already have them and the remainder will receive cameras within 60 days. The rollout follows a funding package approved in April that allocated $20 million for body cameras, and a later $70 billion appropriations bill that provided additional resources for ICE and Border Patrol.
Homan linked the delayed deployment to a prior DHS funding shutdown, saying the government’s closure prevented earlier distribution of cameras. He also said the recent $70 billion package has allowed the purchase of the equipment and that training on deployment is now underway.
The shootings have intensified scrutiny of ICE practices. Homan said investigations are ongoing and noted that DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin had temporarily paused vehicle stops for agent safety, a decision later reversed by President Trump. Both victims were shot during attempted vehicle stops and were not the intended targets of the immigration operations.
Homan warned that rhetoric encouraging resistance to ICE could embolden non-compliance with law-enforcement actions. He emphasized that, regardless of opinions on immigration policy, individuals should comply with officers, and noted that ICE vehicles are equipped with emergency lights, sirens, and insignia to identify them as law-enforcement units.