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All Homeland Security officials assigned to Minneapolis, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, will immediately be issued body cameras, Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday.
Noem made the announcement on social media platform X, saying the body camera program will be expanded across the country as funding becomes available.
“We will soon acquire and distribute body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country,” Noem wrote.
I just talked to him @RealTomHoman @ICEDirector @CBPCCommissioner. Since then we have been sending body cameras to every soldier in the field in Minneapolis.
As funding becomes available, the body camera program will be expanded nationwide. We will quickly find and send the body…
Minneapolis has been the site of intense scrutiny over the behavior of immigrant workers in the country after a shooting that killed two Americans. Critics have suggested that the Department of Public Safety require all immigration officials to wear body cameras.
Former US president Joe Biden ordered in 2022 that law enforcement officers wear body cameras as part of an executive order that included other policing reforms. President Donald Trump rescinded that order after starting his second term.
Liam Ramos, 5, and his father returned to Minneapolis more than a week after being detained by US immigration and law enforcement and fueled protests. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is now saying that ICE will only be sent to Democratic-controlled cities if they ask.
Last week the president ordered his top border adviser to look into the attacks in Minneapolis days after the shooting of Alex Pretti, 37, a critical care nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital. His death came weeks after Renee Nicole Good, 37, was shot and killed in her car.
This killing has sparked protests across the country.
Border Chief Tom Homan suggested mistakes were made, but said agents will continue to enforce federal law and asked local and state officials to cooperate with federal officials.
Human rights activists have widely criticized Trump’s immigration policies as lacking due process and creating a hostile environment for immigrant communities. Trump has cast his actions as aimed at improving domestic security.
Commenting on Noem’s announcement on Monday, Trump told reporters that body cameras “are usually good for law enforcement, because people can’t lie about what’s going on.”
“So, generally, I think 80 percent, they’re fine with law enforcement. But if he wants to do that, I’m fine with it,” Trump said. He noted that the decision was Noem’s, not his.
