ICE chief Lyons promises body camera footage release in MN operations
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Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons told lawmakers Tuesday that body camera footage from ICE operations in Minnesota would be released, while acknowledging that about 3,000 of the nearly 13,000 ICE agents currently wear body cameras.
Lyons made the remarks at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing as lawmakers pressured the agency following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti last month. The hearing became contentious as ICE officials acknowledged limited use of body cameras and lawmakers clashed over enforcement tactics.
In the Good case, recorded footage of the fatal encounter included video taken from a federal agent’s personal phone and was later made public along with eyewitness footage. The Pretti incident was captured on eyewitness video. Lyons did not specify whether there was body camera footage of any of the fatal incidents.
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Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons testified alongside U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on February 10, 2026. (Samuel Çorum/Getty Images)
“Body cameras have been installed in Minnesota. I think transparency helps regain public trust. Do you have any plans to release any of the footage to the public?” Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, asked Lyons.
“100%, sir. That’s something I’m committed to; full transparency. I also welcome body cameras across the spectrum in all of our law enforcement activities,” Lyons said. “Body camera footage will be released.”
Gonzales welcomed the response and said he agreed “completely.”
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Photos of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both killed during federal immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, are displayed behind Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, during an oversight hearing on Feb. 10, 2026. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
“Everyone assumes that body camera footage is bad footage, but in many cases the opposite is the case,” Gonzales said. “We see what they’re dealing with on a daily basis through the officer’s lens, not just a 15-second clip we see on TikTok or whatever.”
Minnesota has become a flashpoint for resistance to immigration enforcement, with agitators clashing with federal agents and trying to disrupt ICE operations during recent protests.
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ICE agents stand at the scene where a woman was fatally shot earlier in the day during an enforcement operation on January 7, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Christopher Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images)
During the hearing, Lyons said more than 3,000 ICE officers already have active body cameras in the field, another 6,000 have been deployed, confirming that the majority of ICE agents remain ill-equipped.
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott told lawmakers that about 10,000 of the agency’s nearly 20,000 Border Patrol agents have body cameras, but Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., expressed doubts and asked Scott to give the committee a more precise figure.
