After weeks of ICE agents operating like “masked thugs” (in the strong words of House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries), the Department of Homeland Security is finally strapping body cameras on federal agents—starting in Minneapolis, where two people have been fatally shot during immigration patrols.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Monday that all federal agents in Minneapolis will immediately begin wearing body cameras, with a nationwide rollout coming “as funding is available.”
Sorry, but that’s not good enough.
THE DETAILS: The camera requirement is one of several demands Democrats have attached to funding the Department of Homeland Security, which is currently caught up in a partial government shutdown. Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin—chair of the Senate’s homeland security committee—gave the green light on CNN over the weekend, saying he doesn’t “have a problem” with the cameras.
Even Trump signaled support: “They generally tend to be good for law enforcement because people can’t lie about what’s happening,” he said at a White House event Monday.
BUT BUT BUT: Don’t expect Republicans to give Democrats everything they’re asking for. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has also demanded an end to roving patrols, judicial warrants before entering homes, a ban on agents wearing masks, proper ID requirements, and a universal code of conduct on use of force.
Johnson flatly rejected the warrant requirement, calling it a “sneaky way” to derail Trump’s immigration agenda. “We’ve got millions of cases backlogged,” he told CNN, arguing that requiring judicial warrants would “neuter our ability to enforce our immigration laws.”
WHY IT MATTERS: ICE operations have faced fierce criticism following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis. Agents have also been caught pepper-spraying demonstrators and arresting people who were simply filming them—activities civil liberties lawyers say are protected by the First Amendment.
Johnson claimed agents are “on hair-trigger alert,” saying some have been shot at and had their cars rammed by protesters. He conceded that body cameras could help clarify such situations.
BOTTOM LINE: We are past the need for body cameras. They’re the bare minimum of accountability—and Democrats better holdout for more. Jeffries said this week: “What is clear is that the Department of Homeland Security needs to be dramatically reformed.”
Wrong. What is needed is for ICE to be abolished, and then prosecuted.
The The House will consider funding legislation this week, and Democrats are expected to keep pushing, but don’t hold your breath. Whether cameras actually change agent behavior emains to be seen.