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All Homeland Security agents deployed to Minneapolis, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, will immediately receive body cameras, Secretary of State Kristi Noem said Monday.
Noem made the announcement on social media platform X, saying the body camera program would be expanded nationally as funding becomes available.
“We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement agencies across the country,” Noem wrote.
I just spoke with @RealTomHoman @ICEDirector @CBPCommissioner. Starting today, we are deploying body cameras to every officer in the field in Minneapolis.
As funding becomes available, the body camera program will be expanded nationally. We will quickly acquire and deploy corps…
Minneapolis has been the scene of intense scrutiny over the conduct of immigration enforcement officers after the fatal shootings of two Americans. Critics have called for Homeland Security to require all department immigration enforcement officers to wear body cameras.
Former US President Joe Biden ordered in 2022 that federal law enforcement officers wear body cameras as part of an executive order that included other police reform measures. President Donald Trump rescinded this directive after beginning his second term.
Liam Ramos, 5, and his father returned to Minneapolis more than a week after being arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and fueling protests. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has now said ICE will only be sent to Democratic-run cities if they ask for it.
The president last week ordered his top border adviser to oversee the crackdown in Minneapolis days after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital. Her death came weeks after Renee Nicole Good, 37, was fatally shot in her car.
The killings sparked nationwide protests.
Border czar Tom Homan suggested mistakes had been made, but he said agents would continue to enforce federal law and called on local and state officials to cooperate with federal agents.
Human rights advocates have widely condemned Trump’s immigration policies, accusing them of lacking due process and making the environment hostile to immigrant communities. Trump has framed his actions as aimed at improving homeland security.
Commenting on Noem’s announcement Monday, Trump told reporters that body cameras “generally tend to be helpful to law enforcement because people can’t lie about what’s going on.”
“So generally speaking, I think 80 percent is good for law enforcement. But if she wants to do it, I’m OK with it,” Trump said. He noted that the decision was Noem’s and not his.
