Tom Homan was asked why ICE agents had no body cameras in two fatal shootings. He blamed Democrats for blocking the funding

According to the HuffPost, Tom Homan, the border czar for President Donald Trump, is blaming Democrats for the lack of body cameras worn by ICE agents during two recent fatal shootings in Texas and Maine. When asked why the devices were not in use, Homan said political gridlock had prevented the necessary equipment from being acquired sooner.

While speaking to reporters outside the White House, Homan stated, “The Democrats shut down the Department of Homeland Security. I was up on the Hill as part of the negotiating team to reopen the government. And they wanted body cameras.” He further alleged that $120 million in the budget was being held up to purchase the technology.

According to Homan, the situation changed after the Big Beautiful Bill passed. He said the body cameras have been ordered and that a deployment schedule is in place, though individual field offices will still need to train their officers on how to use the equipment.

Body camera funding, government shutdowns, and the timeline behind ICE’s delayed rollout

CNN’s chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins questioned Homan on the urgency of the deployment, given the two fatal shootings that occurred in recent weeks. Homan replied, “It is urgent,” and added, “As soon as they had the funding, they bought them.” When Collins noted that Congress had appropriated $20 million for body cameras back in April, Homan maintained that the rollout would have been faster if Democrats had not shut down the government.

The Department of Homeland Security offered a similar explanation regarding the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston. The department stated, “The officers involved in the incident in Houston had not been issued body-worn cameras due to back-to-back Democrat shutdowns.”

Sen. Susan Collins also addressed the issue on July 14, 2026, saying the orders for cameras were placed but the process was delayed because officials could not place those orders while the government was shut down. She stated, “They don’t have them yet. The orders were placed, but they couldn’t place the orders when the government was shut down. That delayed the purchase and deployment of body-worn cameras.”

It remains unclear exactly how a partial government shutdown prevented the Department of Homeland Security from deploying the cameras, particularly given that the agency received $20 million specifically for this purpose in April, in addition to $75 billion in supplemental funding provided to ICE through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This funding is part of a broader budgetary expansion for deportation operations that has cost cities hundreds of millions.

At least nine people have been killed by immigration enforcement officers since President Donald Trump launched his mass deportation campaign, with two of those fatalities occurring within the last week. The absence of body-worn cameras during these encounters has continued to draw scrutiny over transparency in immigration enforcement operations. Recent incidents, such as the shooting of a man in Northern California, have further intensified this scrutiny.