Representative Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) is spearheading a renewed call for answers and accountability from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on how it’s conducting the ongoing immigration crackdown.
This comes after three Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers shot unintended targets, while failing to wear or properly use body cameras.
Rep. Garcia, alongside Reps. Greg Casar (D-TX) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME), issued a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Acting ICE Director David J. Venturella demanding answers about the agency’s body-camera failures and use of force.
“ICE is not short on money,” Rep. Garcia said. “Congress has provided billions of dollars to this agency, and after Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed in my district, we were told body cameras were coming.”
This Congress has voted to send roughly $38.5 billion in supplemental funding to DHS for immigration enforcement agencies. After the shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Border Czar Tom Homan said the government shutdown in February had delayed the rollout of body cameras to ICE agents.
“The money is there,” Rep. Garcia said. “The deadlines have passed. So why does this keep happening?”
Rep. Garcia said the lack of body cam footage leaves the public “in the dark,” while reinforcing a lack of transparency and accountability.
After the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Rep. Garcia’s district, she demanded an immediate investigation into the circumstances surrounding his fatal shooting. The investigation remains ongoing, according to her office.
The letter comes after the recent shooting of Wilber Garces Perez in Austin, Texas — Rep. Casar’s district.
"Secretary Mullin keeps making promises while his agents keep shooting people,” Rep. Casar said. “Secretary Mullin must release every second of footage from that scene, so we can know the truth.”
