ICE Faces Scrutiny Over Deadly Shootings and Airline Threat as Body Cameras Ordered
Agency will require officers to record vehicle stops after a string of fatal encounters
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will now require its officers to wear body cameras and record vehicle stops, the agency announced, after officers were involved in back-to-back deadly shootings during immigration operations, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
Federal law enforcement personnel participating in immigration operations have fatally shot four people so far this year. The Department of Homeland Security has moved quickly each time to defend officials' actions, often before the facts of the shootings were fully known, the Monitor reported.
The new body-camera policy comes as ICE faces separate scrutiny over how its name and authority are being invoked in everyday encounters. A United Airlines employee was caught on video apparently threatening to call ICE on a passenger last week at San Francisco International Airport, CBS News reported. United said it is investigating the incident.
The episodes reflect mounting tension around immigration enforcement nationwide, as ICE operations expand and civil liberties advocates raise concerns about accountability. The body-camera requirement marks one of the agency's most concrete responses yet to criticism over the transparency of its field operations.
— Compiled from reporting by CBS News and the Christian Science Monitor.