ICE officers to use body cameras during vehicle stops, Trump ‘border czar’ says

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers will be mandated to record vehicle stops using at least one body camera, announced Tom Homan, the Trump administration's "border czar," on Sunday. This policy change comes amid heightened scrutiny of the agency following fatal shootings of two men by ICE officers earlier this month.

Homan expressed on Fox & Friends Weekend that body cameras would serve to "exonerate more law enforcement than they convict" and allow the public to witness events from the officers' perspective. His comments followed two separate fatal shootings by federal immigration agents during traffic stops in Texas and Maine within a six-day period. Neither incident involved body-camera footage from the ICE agents involved.

In a separate interview, Homan mentioned that funding for the cameras had been delayed by the partial government shutdown earlier in the year but confirmed that cameras have been purchased and trainers are being prepared for a nationwide rollout. The agency's tactics have drawn public attention again after an ICE officer fatally shot Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian national, during a traffic stop in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13. Six days prior, another ICE officer in Houston fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, who was reportedly not the intended target.

Salgado's family stated he had no criminal history, had lived in the U.S. for 35 years, and was close to obtaining legal status. Similarly, immigrant rights activists reported Durán was authorized to work in the U.S. and possessed a social security number. The Department of Homeland Security claimed officers feared for their safety in Durán's case. Following these events, ICE had temporarily suspended most vehicle stops nationwide for a procedural review, a decision reversed within 24 hours by direction from President Donald Trump.

The back-to-back shootings prompted protests and raised questions about the lack of body cameras. ICE had initiated a pilot program in 2024, deploying cameras in five cities. However, the Trump administration had previously sought to reduce funding for the program by 75%. Following the killing of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota in February, then-DHS chief Kristi Noem had stated the body-camera program would be expanded nationwide as funding became available.

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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.