In the state of Illinois, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents operating in the Chicago area are required to wear and activate body cameras during law enforcement activities. This is a mandate imposed by a federal court judge, rather than a nationwide agency policy.
Key Details
- Federal Court Order: In October 2025, U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis ordered that all federal immigration officers, including those from ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), involved in enforcement operations in the Chicago area (specifically "Operation Midway Blitz") must wear body-worn cameras.
- Reasoning: The judge issued the order due to concerns that agents were not complying with a previous court order regarding the use of force and were using aggressive tactics against the public and protesters. The cameras were mandated to ensure transparency and provide evidence of interactions.
- Compliance Issues: Despite the explicit court order, the Freedom of the Press Foundation reported in December 2025 that ICE claimed it had no body-worn camera footage from the operations, raising concerns about compliance. Video evidence from other incidents, however, has been used in court to dispute government accounts of events.
- Agency Policy vs. Court Order: While ICE did begin deploying body cameras to agents in several cities in 2024 (not including Chicago initially), the Illinois requirement stems specifically from the judicial order, which supersedes general agency discretion in that jurisdiction.
