Booker Wants to Prohibit Shortened Training for Immigration Agents

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker is pushing new legislation that would rein in immigration officers’ use of force and up the standards for their training after an agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis last week.

The lawmaker plans to introduce bills that would require all federal law enforcement to use body cameras in immigration operations and create minimum training standards, as first reported by NOTUS on Thursday.

He is introducing the body camera bill this week, following Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross’ fatal shooting of Good, which the administration says was in self-defense.

Booker called the shooting a “reckless and avoidable tragedy” in a statement to NOTUS. He said the new legislation was meant to prevent future incidents and demand accountability.

“Instead of adopting best practices from around the country, Donald Trump’s [Department of Homeland Security] is using millions of taxpayer dollars on ads that glorify violence, hiring unqualified candidates, and rushing them onto the streets without adequate training,” he said. “If left unchecked, the erosion of standards for federal law enforcement hiring will continue to put Americans and law enforcement officers in grave danger.”

The Minneapolis shooting was caught on camera from multiple angles — including, in part, in phone footage by Ross. Some officials have questioned some of the agent’s actions and raised concerns about ICE’s training.

Former and current DHS agents and police training experts told The Wall Street Journal that Ross’ approach toward a car with its engine running was contrary to protocol.

Democrats also questioned immigration agents’ training, which The Atlantic reported had been reduced from five months to 47 days amid a speedy workforce expansion. Ross would not have been subject to the shortened training since he has been an officer with Border Patrol and then ICE since 2007, The Associated Press reported.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons defended Ross’ simultaneous use of the phone and gun during the incident. Lyons said in a Sunday interview with Fox News that the agency was still in the process of issuing body cameras to agents.

One of the bills the New Jersey Democrat plans to spearhead would prohibit accelerated or abbreviated trainings, and the other would require all federal law enforcement to use body cameras during all public-facing immigration enforcement operations.

Booker and Sen. Alex Padilla had previously demanded answers from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about the vetting, training and supervision protocols for new hires.

The legislation from Booker comes as Republicans in the House delayed acting on an appropriations bill for DHS after backlash from Democrats.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reaffirmed the administration’s stance on Monday that Ross acted in self-defense.

“This administration will continue to stand wholeheartedly by the brave men and women of ICE, including that officer in Minneapolis, who was absolutely justified in using self-defense against a lunatic who is part of a group, an organized group, to interject and to impede on law enforcement operations,” Leavitt said.

DHS has promoted the hiring of 12,000 ICE agents, with a federal workforce database placing the number at 7,114 new employees since the beginning of Trump’s second term. That hiring influx has been powered by Congress’ allocation of $30 billion for the hiring of 10,000 new ICE agents.