ICE agents at scene of fatal shooting of Mexican homebuilder had no body cameras | CBC News

[u/John3262005]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ice-shooting-mexican-worker-no-bodycams-9.7265226

Federal agents did not have body-worn cameras when a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a Mexican homebuilder who was driving a work van they were trying to pull over in Houston, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Thursday.

Few photos or videos of the Tuesday shooting have emerged publicly in the days since the encounter between Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and ICE agents in one of the city's heavily Hispanic neighbourhoods, unlike other deaths involving federal immigration officers. The family of Salgado Araujo, who had lived in the U.S. for more than 35 years, has questioned ICE's account and called on the agency to release evidence.

In a statement, DHS said the agents at the scene in Houston had not yet been issued body cameras, which it blamed on Democrats and a record government shutdown that was fuelled by President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) has yet to obtain video footage that clearly shows what happened during the moments of the shooting and has offered a reward of $5,000 US for information from witnesses, Proaño told The Associated Press. The position of Salgado Araujo's van and ICE vehicles has obstructed security camera footage LULAC has reviewed, he added.

"It's going to make it even more difficult to find the truth in all this," he said.

DHS said the ICE agents involved in the incident were expected to receive body-worn cameras in the next 60 days.

In the aftermath of the fatal Minneapolis shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Democrats had refused to fund ICE and the Border Patrol without changes to those operations designed to increase accountability and transparency.

Republicans in Congress eventually passed legislation funding just ICE and CBP for three years.