The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is pushing back against a federal watchdog's recommendation to automatically activate body cameras when officers draw their weapons, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from congressional Democrats.
In a report released Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined ICE's rollout of body-worn cameras after the agency received unprecedented funding. The review, requested by Democratic lawmakers, found that ICE lacks the automated safeguards used by other federal law enforcement to ensure cameras are turned on during critical incidents.
"ICE has not implemented controls to help ensure compliance with activating cameras when required by policy," the GAO concluded. The report noted that only Customs and Border Protection has automated camera activation technology, while ICE does not, creating a risk that officers will fail to capture footage when they are supposed to.
The GAO's findings come amid growing frustration over ICE's slow camera deployment and officers' failure to activate them in several shootings, including fatal encounters. Since President Trump took office, ICE officers have killed six people.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, agreed with most of the GAO's recommendations but rejected the idea of automatic activation. DHS argued that such technology could trigger cameras inadvertently during routine movements, leading to unauthorized recordings of sensitive interactions with informants or victims, or capturing bystanders exercising First Amendment rights in restricted areas.
However, the GAO noted that DHS did not provide evidence of environments where automatic activation could work or suggest alternative controls to ensure compliance. The watchdog's report underscores a persistent accountability gap within ICE, a theme that has drawn attention amid broader criticism of immigration enforcement tactics.
House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) vowed to introduce legislation requiring automatic activation for all DHS body cameras. "ICE — which has shown time and again it thinks it is immune to accountability — is unwilling to implement automatic activation for its cameras, increasing the risk of missing critical recordings, just like what happened when Wilber Garces Perez was shot by an ICE agent in Austin last month," Thompson said in a statement. "This is completely unacceptable."
The standoff reflects a broader debate over transparency in federal law enforcement, as immigration enforcement remains a politically charged issue. Democrats have also raised concerns about detention practices and the treatment of migrants under the current administration.
Thompson's proposed bill would likely face resistance from DHS, which maintains that automatic activation poses operational risks. But the GAO's report suggests that without such measures, ICE may continue to miss crucial evidence in use-of-force incidents.
