White House border czar Tom Homan called for the expanded use of body-worn cameras by federal immigration officers on Sunday following two fatal shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel earlier this month.
“I think body cameras are the way to go,” Homan said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I think body cameras let the American people know what that officer sees when he takes that action.”
The comments follow a July 7 incident in Houston where an ICE officer shot and killed a Mexican national, and a separate shooting days later in Biddeford, Maine, that left a Colombian man dead. Officers involved in both cases were not wearing body cameras, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acknowledged neither man was the intended target of the operations.
Following the incidents, DHS announced that every ICE arrest team will now include at least one officer equipped with a camera. DHS reported that more than half of ICE’s field offices have received cameras, with the remaining offices scheduled to receive them within 60 days.
Homan attributed delays in camera deployment to congressional budget disputes earlier this year, stating that initial funding approved in April was insufficient. Democratic lawmakers have criticized the slow rollout, but Homan said a $70 billion funding package passed in June allowed the agency to purchase the remaining equipment.
“The cameras have been purchased, right now they’re training the trainer in deploying the cameras nationwide,” Homan said.
Addressing the ongoing investigations, Homan noted that unmarked federal vehicles are equipped with emergency lights and sirens, though he did not know if they were activated during the Texas or Maine encounters. “If they didn’t activate the lights, then there’s an issue there,” he said.
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