All federal agents deployed to the field in Minneapolis will be equipped with body cameras, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced Monday.
“Effective immediately, we are deploying body cameras to every officer in the field in Minneapolis,” Noem said in a post on X. “As funding is available, the body camera program will be expanded nationwide. We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to [Department of Homeland Security] law enforcement across the country.”
The move comes after a series of violent confrontations between anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters and federal agents.
Protesters argue that body cameras would increase accountability for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Anti-ICE protesters have also demanded that ICE officers wear body cameras after incidents such as the death of Renée Good, in which ICE officer Jonathan Ross filmed the fatal encounter with his cellphone—a decision that drew criticism from many.
“If you’re an agent … then you should not be encumbered by anything in your hands,” Jonathan Wackrow, a CNN law enforcement analyst, said. “That’s what body-worn cameras are for. But they’re not wearing body-worn cameras.”
However, proponents of the policy say increased transparency could actually benefit ICE agents by protecting them from allegations of misconduct.
Lora Ries, director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, explained how wearing body cameras could protect agents.
“Defund ICE is the same movement and has the same funders and organizers as the ‘defund the police’ movement,” Ries told The Daily Signal. “Just as bodycams have helped police defend against false claims made by rent-a-rioters, so too will bodycams help ICE defend against false claims made to obstruct ICE and prevent deportations to protect the Left’s political power.”
President Donald Trump agreed, saying, “[Body cameras] generally tend to be good for law enforcement because people can’t lie about what’s happening.”