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Every Homeland Security officer deployed in Minneapolis, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, will be immediately issued body cameras, Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday.
Noem made the announcement on the social media platform X, saying the body camera program will be expanded nationwide as funding becomes available.
“We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country,” Noem wrote.
I just spoke with <a href=”https://twitter.com/RealTomHoman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@RealTomHoman</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/ICEDirector?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@ICEDirector</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/CBPCommissioner?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@CBPCommissioner</a>. Effective immediately we are deploying body cameras to every officer in the field in Minneapolis. <br><br>As funding is available, the body camera program will be expanded nationwide. We will rapidly acquire and deploy body…
—Sec_Noem
Minneapolis has been the site of intense scrutiny over the conduct of immigration enforcement agents after the fatal shootings of two Americans. Critics have called for Homeland Security to require all of the department’s officers responsible for immigration enforcement to wear body cameras.
Former U.S. president Joe Biden ordered in 2022 that federal law enforcement officers wear body cameras as part of an executive order that included other policing reform measures. President Donald Trump rescinded that directive after starting his second term.
Liam Ramos, 5, and his father returned to Minneapolis more than a week after being detained by U.S. immigration and customs enforcement agents and further fuelling protests. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump now says ICE will only be sent to Democratic-run cities if they ask.
The president last week ordered his top border adviser to oversee the crackdown in Minneapolis days after the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital. His death came weeks after 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot in her car.
The killings have led to nationwide protests.
Border czar Tom Homan suggested that mistakes have been made, but he said agents would continue to enforce federal law and called on local and state officials to co-operate with federal officers.
Human rights advocates have widely condemned Trump’s immigration policies as lacking due process and making the environment hostile for immigrant communities. Trump has cast his actions as being aimed at improving domestic security.
Commenting on Noem’s announcement Monday, Trump told reporters that body cameras “generally tend to be good for law enforcement, because people can’t lie about what’s happening.”
“So it’s, generally speaking, I think 80 per cent, good for law enforcement. But if she wants to do that, I’m OK with it,” Trump said. He noted the decision was Noem’s, not his.
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