119-hr4651

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4651 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4651

To require immigration enforcement staff to wear body cameras, and for 
 other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 July 23, 2025

Mr. Espaillat introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committees on 
 the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 
 determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To require immigration enforcement staff to wear body cameras, and for 
 other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Immigration Enforcement Staff Body 
Camera Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. USE OF BODY CAMERAS BY IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT STAFF.

    (a) In General.--Not later than the date that the rule under 
subsection

    (e) is finalized, the Director of U.S. Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement

    (ICE) and the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection

    (CBP) shall ensure that all immigration enforcement 
staff wear body cameras when such agents and officers are engaged in 
official operations.

    (b) Implementation.--To carry out this section, the Director of ICE 
and the Commissioner of CBP shall establish--

    (1) policies, procedures, and best practices for the use of 
 body cameras by all immigration enforcement staff, including 
 training relating to the use of such cameras;

    (2) policies, procedures, and best practices for the use of 
 artificial intelligence and facial recognition technology to 
 record or review body camera footage by immigration enforcement 
 staff, including policies that acknowledge the limitations and 
 inaccuracies of artificial intelligence and facial recognition 
 technology; and

    (3) policies and procedures for carrying out adverse 
 actions under subsection

    (f) .
            (c) Always-On.--Body cameras worn by immigration enforcement staff 
shall be turned on at the beginning of the shift of such staff and 
shall remain on for the duration of such shifts.
            (d) Availability of Body Camera Footage.--Footage collected by such 
a body camera shall be made available to each party to any 
administrative proceeding, civil action, or criminal prosecution to 
which such footage pertains in accordance with such requirements as the 
Secretary of Homeland Security shall by rule require under subsection

    (e) . If such footage is not made available, such a party may notify the 
Director of ICE or the Commissioner of CBP, as the case may be, in 
writing for purposes of instigating an adverse action described in 
subsection

    (f) .

    (e) Rulemaking.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall commence a 
rulemaking regarding the use of body cameras and the provision of 
footage in accordance with subsection
            (d) that is consistent with the 
``Civil Rights Principles for Body Worn Cameras'' of the Leadership 
Conference on Civil and Human Rights, May 2015, and ``Three Key Reforms 
for Facial Recognition and Body Cameras'' of the Project on Government 
Oversight, April 2018. The proposed rule shall include a comparison 
with the American Civil Liberties Union's July 2021 ``Model Act for 
Regulating the Use of Wearable Body Cameras by Law Enforcement'' and 
``An Act Relative to Body-Worn Cameras for Law Enforcement Officers'' 
(2016 N.H. Legis. Serv. 322 (codified at N.H. REV. STAT. ANN. 

Sec. 105-D

    (2016) )).

    (f) Adverse Actions for Absence of Body Camera Footage.--Any 
immigration enforcement staff member whose body camera does not record 
footage because of a violation of subsection
            (c) shall be subject to 
furlough, reduction in pay or grade, or a suspension of up to 30 days 
under subchapter II of chapter 75 of title 5, United States Code, as 
the Director of ICE or the Commissioner of CBP (as the case may be) 
determines appropriate. If a body camera does not record at a time when 
the camera is required to be active, the Secretary of Homeland Security 
may not determine that the camera suffered a malfunction unless the 
member submits evidence sufficient to establish that a malfunction 
occurred.

    (g) Annual Assessments.--The Inspector General of the Department of 
Homeland Security shall conduct an annual privacy impact assessment of 
how body camera footage is collected, maintained, stored, and 
disseminated.

    (h) Prohibition on New Funding.--No additional funding is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section. This section 
shall be carried out using amounts otherwise made available for such 
purposes.
            (i) === Definition. ===
-In this section, the term ``immigration 
enforcement staff'' means the following:

    (1) All agents and officers of U.S. Customs and Border 
 Protection.

    (2) All agents and officers of U.S. Immigration and Customs 
 Enforcement.

    (3) All staff at any immigration detention facility who 
 interact with detainees.
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