A Democratic duo on the House Judiciary Committee questioned Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin over immigration officers’ lack of body cameras — a pledge made by his outgoing predecessor.
“We need these cameras now. DHS and its component agencies have consistently made false and unsubstantiated allegations about people its agents shot, including Renee Good, Alex Pretti, Ruben Ray Martinez, and Marimar Martinez,” wrote Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the full committee, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, the top Democrat on the immigration subcommittee.
Former Secretary Kristi Noem had promised to “rapidly acquire and deploy” body cameras to officers following after Good and Pretti, two U.S. citizens killed in separate confrontations with federal immigration officers in Minnesota in January. Her commitment came after Congress provided funding for DHS that specifically earmarked $20 million for the procurement, deployment and operations of body-worn cameras for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE has blamed a series of government shutdowns, including a record shutdown for parts of Homeland Security, for slowing the deployment.
Democrats have rejected that notion.
“I think the blame on the shutdown is just ludicrous,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia, Texas Democrat, said after an ICE shooting in her district. “They were given $20 million just for this purpose.”
Mr. Raskin and Ms. Jayapal said cameras are critical to making sense of what occurred in shootings.
They said Homeland Security’s own version in the immediate aftermath is often undercut by the footage.
“In each case, evidence later emerged that definitively contradicted the government’s claims, showing that DHS made false or misleading statements. In other incidents, it was found ICE agents lied and were the aggressors, resulting in several trumped-up prosecutions against DHS’s victims being dismissed with prejudice,” Mr. Raskin and Ms. Jayapal wrote.
In two high-profile shooting deaths earlier this month in Texas and Maine, the ICE officers involved weren’t wearing body cameras.
White House border czar Tom Homan said that the agency is “moving as quickly as possible” to deploy them.
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