Closed-door House briefing focused on body cameras, vehicle stops
One Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer has been referred for discipline over a use of force incident since the beginning of the Trump administration, Democratic members of the House Homeland Security Committee said after a closed-door briefing with agency officials Wednesday.
The briefing, which covered body cameras, vehicle stops and training, comes in the wake of two shootings in which ICE officers shot and killed two immigrants they were trying to arrest, raising concerns over the agency’s tactics at a time it is ratcheting up its arrests, according to the Associated Press.
The shootings in Maine and Houston over the span of a week have led to what the Associated Press described as fierce criticism that there is not enough oversight of ICE, the agency central to President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
At least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration agents since Trump launched the enforcement crackdown after retaking office. In the Maine shooting, family members of the ICE officer who opened fire said he had a history of violent behavior and, according to the Associated Press, never should have been given a badge and gun.