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Dems Press ICE on Oversight 07/23 06:23
WASHINGTON (AP) -- One Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer has been
referred for discipline over a use-of-force incident since the beginning of the
Trump administration, said Democratic members of the House Homeland Security
Committee after a briefing with ICE officials Wednesday about body cameras,
vehicle stops and training.
The closed-door briefing for committee members comes in the wake of two
shootings in which ICE officers shot and killed two immigrants that they were
trying to arrest, raising concerns over the agency's tactics at a time that it
is ratcheting up its arrests.
The shootings in Maine and Houston over the span of a week have led to
fierce criticism that there's not enough oversight of the agency key to
President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda. At least 10 people have died
in encounters with immigration agents since Trump launched the crackdown after
retaking office, and in the Maine shooting, family members of the ICE officer
who opened fire say he had a history of violent behavior and never should have
been given a badge and gun.
Rep. Seth Magaziner, a Democrat from Rhode Island, said they were told
during the briefing that there have been 56 complaints of excessive force
against ICE officers; 32 were cleared, and one was referred for disciplinary
action. Magaziner said they were told no discipline had yet been handed out.
The rest of the incidents are still under investigation, he said.
"It just defies belief that an agency of 20,000-plus officers with all of
the chaos that we've seen over the last year and a half through the surges and
civilians being injured and killed, that no one would be found to have violated
use of force with the exception of possibly one person," Magaziner said.
Homeland Security said in a statement Wednesday that ICE officers who
violate the agency's policies are held accountable, their officers are trained
in de-escalation tactics and take an annual refresher course on use of force
policies. The agency also defended its officers, saying they are operating in
an environment where they are constantly being attacked.
"When faced with dangerous circumstances, DHS law enforcement professionals
have used their training to protect themselves, their fellow officers, and the
public," the agency said.
The use-of -force numbers mark an increase since February, when then-acting
director Todd Lyons said during Senate testimony that ICE had opened 37
investigations for excessive force; 18 of those were closed, 19 were still
pending, and one was referred for "further action," Lyons said.
The ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi,
said the ICE officials could not discuss the shootings in Maine or Houston, as
those are both open investigations. Thompson, who said he came away with more
questions than answers from the briefing, said he wanted to know who
investigates use of force incidents: "Sometimes they said the FBI, sometimes
they said HSI. Sometimes they said another entity."
The officials said they were going to retrain officers who had gone through
a shorter curriculum that was in place last fall, Thompson said. In June,
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the agency would be
increasing the amount of training for new officers starting this month.
Thompson said he pressed for answers about how many officers had been
brought back for retraining and how they're being retrained but couldn't get
any clarity.
Thompson said he and the committee chair, Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y.,
will follow up with ICE with a list of questions.
Garbarino said he appreciated ICE briefing the members.
"Today was an important opportunity for Members to receive timely answers on
the status of body camera deployment for law enforcement in the field, training
and vetting standards and requirements, and current guidance on the use of
vehicle stops as part of immigration enforcement," Garbarino said in a
statement.
When it comes to vehicle stops, Magaziner said they were told that current
guidance to ICE officers is to only do them when there's no other alternative,
and they're supposed to use lights and sirens. But, Magaziner said, that
guidance has only been passed along verbally to the staff as opposed to a
written directive.
Both the shootings in Maine and Houston involved shootings of immigrants who
were in moving vehicles, raising questions about ICE's training and policies
surrounding how it tries to apprehend people when they're driving.
After the Maine killing, Trump administration officials told ICE officers to
suspend most vehicle stops. But the next day, Trump announced on social media
that he wanted ICE to keep doing them.
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