Ranking Members Raskin, Jayapal Demand ICE Agents Wear Functional Body Cameras
Washington, D.C. (July 30, 2026)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, sent a letter demanding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immediately equip all agents interacting with the public with fully functional body-worn cameras. The demand follows a disturbing pattern of deadly immigration enforcement operations carried out without basic accountability measures in place.
“We have watched in horror as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials shot over two dozen people and killed six of them, including three U.S. citizens, during immigration enforcement operations since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025.1 In shooting after shooting, we are told that there is no body-worn camera footage of the incident and asked to accept DHS’s account of the incident. Time and again, that account turns out to be a blatant falsehood. It is time for DHS to use the $210 billion that congressional Republicans have given the agency to ensure that every DHS officer is equipped with a fully functioning body-worn camera when conducting immigration enforcement,” wrote the Ranking Members.
Despite repeated DHS promises, body-worn cameras remain absent—or nonfunctional—when they matter most. After ICE agents killed U.S. citizens Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis earlier this year, DHS pledged rapid nationwide deployment. Nearly six months later, that promise remains unmet.
The consequences have been deadly. Earlier this month, ICE officers fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas without body camera footage. Days later, officers killed Johan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine while wearing cameras that were not functioning. In both cases, the public was left to rely solely on DHS’s account—despite its documented record of false and misleading statements about these incidents.
DHS has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims about victims, including Renée Good, Alex Pretti, Ruben Ray Martinez, and Marimar Martinez—falsely alleging they attacked officers. In case after case, evidence has contradicted these claims, further eroding DHS’s credibility.
Body-worn cameras are a basic accountability tool used by state and local law enforcement nationwide. They protect officers, safeguard the public, and provide essential transparency for courts and Congress. Yet under the Trump Administration, federal immigration enforcement continues to operate without this standard safeguard.
Congress has already provided DHS with more than $210 billion for immigration enforcement in the last year and a half, including $20 million specifically for body-worn cameras. Even Republican lawmakers have urged deployment, but House Judiciary Republicans recently rejected an amendment requiring their use.
Ranking Members Raskin and Jayapal are demanding every agent who interacts with the public be equipped with fully functional body-worn cameras.
Click here to read the letter.