ICE and CBP Body Camera Accountability Act
Bill: H.R.531 | Sponsor: Rep. Espaillat, Adriano (D-NY)
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
ICE and CBP Body Camera Accountability Act
This bill requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents and officers to wear body cameras when engaged in official operations.
Such agents and officers shall turn on their cameras for the duration of each shift. The footage shall be available to each party in any administrative proceeding, civil action, or criminal proceeding where such footage is pertinent.
An agent or officer whose camera does not record footage during a shift shall be subject to furlough, reduction in pay or grade, or suspension. When a camera does not record during a shift, the Department of Homeland Security may not determine that the camera malfunctioned unless the agent or officer submits evidence to establish that a malfunction occurred.
ICE and CBP shall establish policies and procedures regarding use of the cameras and for carrying out adverse actions related to a failure to record footage.


To require agents and officers of U.S. Immigration and Customs 
    Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection 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 ``ICE and CBP Body Camera 
Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. USE OF BODY CAMERAS BY AGENTS AND OFFICERS OF U.S. IMMIGRATION 
              AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT AND U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER 
              PROTECTION.

    (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 agents and officers of ICE 
and CBP, as the case may be, 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 agents and officers of ICE and CBP, including 
        training relating to the use of such cameras; and
            (2) policies and procedures for carrying out adverse 
        actions under subsection (f).
    (c) Always-On.--Body cameras worn by agents and officers of ICE and 
CBP shall be turned on at the beginning of the shift of such agents and 
officers 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. The proposed rule shall 
include a comparison with the American Civil Liberties Union's January 
2017 ``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.--An agent 
or officer of ICE or CBP 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 
agent or officer submits evidence sufficient to establish that a 
malfunction occurred.
    (g) Prohibition on New Funding.--No additional funding is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act. This Act shall be 
carried out using amounts otherwise made available for such purposes.
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