White House border czar Tom Homan defended U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) use of unmarked vehicles during an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation," where he also urged individuals to comply with law enforcement stops to avoid dangerous encounters. The exchange with moderator Margaret Brennan occurred in the context of recent fatal incidents involving ICE agents.
Homan stated that unmarked vehicles aid officers in locating individuals and suggested that recent fatalities could have been prevented if the individuals had complied with a vehicle stop. "Bottom line is, 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," Homan said.
Brennan raised concerns about a specific incident in Houston where an ICE officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. Salgado's family indicated that he may have believed he was being robbed because the pursuing vehicle was unmarked. Brennan questioned whether ICE agents activated emergency lights before the pursuit, noting that publicly available videos did not appear to show lights and the officers involved were not wearing body cameras. "That there were lights, because the videos that we’ve seen there aren’t, and because there weren’t body cameras," Brennan said. "It is hard to substantiate some of what you are saying."
Homan acknowledged he had not reviewed the videos of the Houston incident but maintained that ICE vehicles are equipped with emergency lights. He qualified his statements, saying he could not confirm if lights were used in that specific instance but acknowledged that failure to activate them would be an issue. He drew a parallel to unmarked police vehicles used by departments like the NYPD, stating they help locate individuals who do not wish to be found.
Following these encounters, Homan expressed support for the nationwide deployment of body cameras, arguing that they provide transparency and allow the public to understand the officer's perspective. ICE has purchased body cameras and is training personnel for a nationwide rollout, which will require officers to record vehicle stops with at least one body camera.
Officials acknowledged that Salgado was not the intended target of the Houston operation. ICE's initial statement said Salgado rammed a federal vehicle and attempted to run over an officer, who then fired in self-defense, though witnesses disputed this account. In a separate incident six days later in Biddeford, Maine, an ICE officer fatally shot a fleeing driver who was also not the intended target. The Department of Homeland Security stated the officer opened fire fearing for public safety. Investigations into both shootings are ongoing. A third incident involved a man who died after fleeing federal immigration agents in St. Augustine, Florida.