In Major Oversight Move, US To Outfit Border Agents With Body Cameras

The cameras are expected to be rolled out in Texas and New Mexico and then expanded to Arizona, California and Vermont.

The United States will require thousands of border agents to wear body cameras, according to two officials and government documents, a major operational change that could increase oversight of agents and also help capture criminal activity. The cameras are expected to be rolled out in parts of Texas and New Mexico during the summer and expanded to Arizona, California, Vermont and Texas' busy Rio Grande Valley in the fall and winter, according to a recent government assessment of how the devices could impact privacy. Pro-immigrant activists will likely welcome the increased oversight of an agency some have criticized for excessive use of force and institutional racism. But a union for border patrol agents also supports cameras, saying they could assist criminal investigations and help show that agents act professionally. The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups have called on border patrol to use the cameras to improve accountability in the wake of several high-profile fatal shootings by law enforcement over the past decade.