U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and their use of unmarked vehicles is under scrutiny following a fatal shooting incident involving officers in Houston. During an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Tom Homan, White House border czar, defended the practice, clashing with moderator Margaret Brennan over the details of the incident.

Homan stated that unmarked vehicles are beneficial for locating suspects, asserting that compliance could have prevented recent deaths. “We’ll see when the investigation plays out, but they’d be alive today if they simply complied with a vehicle stop by federal law enforcement officer. Just comply,” he said.

ICE faced criticism when an officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston. Salgado’s family claimed he believed the unmarked vehicle pursuing him belonged to robbers, not federal agents. Brennan highlighted these concerns, emphasizing the confusion caused by lack of identification that should be present in such operations.

“The family of the man in Houston said that he thought he was being robbed because it was an unmarked vehicle. Not that it was law enforcement at all.”

Homan maintained that ICE vehicles carry equipment enabling officers to identify themselves, including emergency lights. “They had emergency lights. They activate emergency lights. Blue lights,” Homan explained, citing his experience with such setups.

Brennan questioned Homan’s assertions, pointing to publicly available videos showing no emergency lights were used and noting the absence of body cameras worn by the officers. “That there were lights, because the videos that we’ve seen there aren’t, and because there weren’t body cameras,” she pressed.

Homan admitted he hadn’t reviewed the Houston incident videos, acknowledging a potential issue if lights weren’t activated, undermining his earlier statements. “I haven’t seen that video. If they didn’t activate the lights, then there’s an issue there, right?” he accepted.

Homan spotlighted the commonality of unmarked vehicles in law enforcement, suggesting their utility in locating individuals who seek to evade capture.

The border czar expressed support for the nationwide implementation of body cameras for ICE operations. He contended that cameras provide public insight into an officer’s perspective during critical decisions. “I think body cameras let the American people know what that officer sees when he takes that action.”

The agency plans to equip officers with body cameras across the nation, with protocols requiring recordings at vehicle stops. The recent incidents have intensified scrutiny of ICE operations, prompting closer examination of their methods and accountability.

Two other fatal enforcement encounters occurred shortly after the Houston shooting. In Biddeford, Maine, an ICE officer shot a Colombian driver, fearing for public safety as the driver tried fleeing. Another tragic incident involved a Mexican national killed after fleeing ICE agents in Florida, which raises further questions about ICE’s operational strategies.