As The New York Times reported yesterday, Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) is demanding answers after Immigration and Customs Enforcement claimed it has no body-worn camera footage from Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, Illinois, despite a federal judge’s explicit order that agents wear and activate those cameras.
The following statement can be attributed to Lauren Harper, FPF’s Daniel Ellsberg chair on government secrecy:
“Our request to ICE was crystal clear. We asked for all body-worn camera footage from Operation Midway Blitz. We expected to receive at least some footage, because U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis ordered ICE and other immigration agents to wear those cameras, saying doing so and turning them on ’wasn’t a suggestion.’ Ellis even released body camera footage documenting immigration agents’ excessive use of force, including incidents that took place within the date range of our request.
“Yet ICE just informed us it found no records in response to our FOIA. And the agency appears to have deliberately narrowed its search to only its Enforcement and Removal Operations unit without our consent. So who is ICE lying to? Us, or the federal judge?
“We’re pursuing all of our options in this FOIA to get to the bottom of it — and send ICE a clear message: It is not the secret police or exempt from accountability.”
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