Fatal shootings renew scrutiny of ICE body camera rollout

Federal immigration agents fatally shot two immigrant fathers in Houston and Maine, and none of the officers involved were wearing body cameras.

In February 2026, Kristi Noem said DHS would "rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras" to law-enforcement officers across the department, starting with officers on the ground in Minneapolis as funding became available. Congress provided $20 million in April for "the procurement, deployment, and operations of body-worn cameras" for immigration-enforcement officers. Even with that money, the rollout did not fully reach the Houston and Maine teams.

DHS tied the gap to a months-long lapse in funding and government shutdown disruptions. Tom Homan said hundreds of cameras had been sent to Minnesota, but not enough to outfit every ICE agent, and more purchases were waiting on additional money. The body-camera program had already been operating in more than half of ICE field offices before the new order.

DHS said Lorenzo Salgado Araujo used his car against an ICE vehicle before he was shot. Witnesses disputed that account, and the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death a homicide. In Maine, DHS said Joan Durán Guerrero was a public-safety threat while attempting to flee.

Susan Collins said the Houston and Maine incidents showed why a body-worn-camera mandate is imperative. Lauren Bonds, the executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, said body cameras are a crucial accountability tool because they can expose excessive force and contradict false narratives in incident reports.

DHS said every ICE arrest team would now have at least one officer equipped with a body-worn camera going forward, with the remaining offices expected to receive cameras within roughly 60 days. Democratic Rep. Sylvia Garcia said ICE should have had the cameras in place already.