Legislation Requires DHS Evidence in ICE-related Injuries and Deaths be Turned Over to Congress, Including Body Cameras, Incident Reports

Pressley Has Stood in Vigorous Defense of Immigrant Communities in MA 7^th and Nationwide, Fighting to Bring Detained Neighbors Home

Bill Text (PDF)

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Congressman Dave Min (CA-47) introduced the DHS Use of Force Transparency Act of 2026 to ​​increase transparency and government oversight regarding injuries and deaths caused by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity. This legislation would address the rising number of individuals who are injured or killed during immigration enforcement arrests or while in the custody of ICE facilities.

This bill follows recent oversight visits Representatives Min and Pressley took to ICE facilities in their communities, seeking answers into the conditions of these facilities.

“The lives lost at the hands of ICE agents in broad daylight and behind the walls of inhumane detention centers require full investigations—and our bill would help the truth come to light,” said Rep. Pressley. “I’m proud to partner with Rep. Min to introduce the DHS Use of Force Transparency Act to bring accountability and healing to families whose loved ones have been hurt or murdered by ICE agents. We are requiring all DHS evidence related to these harmful incidents be turned over to Congress because Congress cannot conduct oversight when critical evidence is withheld or obscured. We will not stand idly by while rogue federal agents—emboldened by the Trump White House—brutalize our communities and cover it up with lies and confusion.”

“2025 was only the beginning of an alarming trend of increased use-of-force incidents by ICE agents and deaths of ICE detainees,” said Representative Min. “At least three Americans are dead while numerous others were injured because of ICE and CBP officers’ actions, yet barely any data is available. Congress must assert its oversight authority to investigate these abuses and protect Americans from aggressive, inadequately trained officers.”

The DHS Use of Force Transparency Act of 2026 Would:

• Require the Secretary of Homeland Security, within 30 days of enactment, to provide all documents and materials to the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee relating to:
  • Any DHS officer-involved shooting since January 20, 2025, resulting in injury or death; and
  • Any death occurring in DHS custody since that date.
• Specify that production must include items like:
  • All video/audio footage (body-worn cameras, dash cams, surveillance, drone footage, etc.);
  • Incident and investigative reports (use-of-force reports, internal affairs files, supervisory reviews, medical reports, dispatch logs, etc.); and
• Mandate that DHS produces materials in unredacted form to the maximum extent permitted by law, with any redactions must be accompanied by written justification citing the specific legal authority relied upon.

This bill is endorsed by Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), Center For Law & Social Policy (CLASP), California Immigration Policy Center (CIPC), Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL).

“Everyone deserves to live in safe communities, regardless of what they look like, the language they speak, or the color of their skin,” said John C. Yang, President and Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. “We cannot continue to allow our government to terrorize and inflict violence on communities with impunity. Our government has used our flawed immigration system to abduct our neighbors, create deadly chaos in our streets and terrorize our schools, churches, and businesses. You cannot create safety through fear, abduction, and zero accountability. By requiring transparency from DHS around the injuries and deaths caused by DHS officials since January 2025, this bill emphasizes that our government is accountable to its people. The DHS Use of Force Transparency Act is a necessary step toward safeguarding human dignity, protecting families, and ensuring our government upholds the rule of law. Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC is proud to endorse this legislation, and we call on Congress to pass it without delay.”

“Immigration enforcement under the Trump administration has become violent, deadly, and over‑militarized which is why the DHS Use of Force Transparency Act of 2026 is a critical safeguard. In the 2026 fiscal year alone, 23 people have lost their lives, and countless others have endured physical and psychological trauma as a direct result of DHS’ enforcement practices,” said Melissa Shepard, Director of Legal Services at Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef).” Our communities are living under siege, and none of this makes anyone safer. This legislation brings a level of transparency and oversight that is urgently needed in a system that operated unchecked by the Constitution and unrestrained by basic standards of accountability. We applaud Congressmembers Min, Pressley, Norton, and Swalwell for fighting to hold DHS accountable and for insisting that constitutional rights and human dignity are not optional for DHS.”

Text of the bill can be accessed here.

In the Massachusetts 7^th, Rep. Pressley has recognized and supported the many families torn apart and children suffering from the detention of a loved one—including harrowing attacks on Massachusetts families in their daily lives, abductions of dedicated workers at the Allston car wash, visiting Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk during her unlawful detention and pushing to bring her home, and more.

In March 2026, Rep. Pressley visited the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Boston Field Office in Burlington, to conduct oversight of the operations and conditions of the facility.  Rep. Pressley engaged with ICE staff and leadership in a closed-door tour and discussion in the facility.

In February 2026, Rep. Pressley convened immigrant entrepreneurs and small business owners, community advocates, and municipal leaders to hear of the essential role that immigrant-owned small businesses play in Massachusetts’ economy and communities and how they are suffering under Trump’s attacks.

In January 2026, Rep. Pressley and Senator Markey held a field hearing with members of the Haitian community on the importance of extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti. Testimony was documented in the Congressional Record.

Rep. Pressley also leads a discharge petition that could compel the House vote on a bill to require the Trump Administration to extend TPS for Haiti for three years. 

In February 2026, during Oversight Democrats’ bicameral shadow hearing on the use of violence by ICE, Rep. Pressley demanded Congress end qualified immunity to ensure federal law enforcement officers are held accountable for breaking the law and murdering civilians. Rep. Pressley called on her colleagues not to settle for bare minimum reforms in funding negotiations for the Department of Homeland Security, instead urging them to fight to rebalance power and restore accountability.

In January 2026, at the invitation of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Congresswoman Pressley went to Minneapolis to meet with organizers and community members impacted by ICE’s violent operation in Minnesota, where they have murdered bystanders, terrorized schools and small businesses, and abducted children and parents.

Following the ICE murder of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Congresswoman Pressley and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced the Qualified Immunity Abolition Act of 2026, which builds on the lawmakers’ prior work by granting victims the right to sue federal law enforcement officers—not just state and local—for civil rights violations and abolishing the defense of qualified immunity in these suits. The expanded legislation would help deliver accountability for families abused by law enforcement, including ICE agents.

Congresswoman Pressley delivered a floor speech on the need to end qualified immunity for federal law enforcement, including immigration officers. Watch the floor speech here.

In January 2026, Congresswoman Pressley condemned the ICE murder of Renee Good in Minnesota and motioned to subpoena all records and footage related to the shooting, but Republicans obstructed it. Footage of Congresswoman Pressley’s motion to subpoena is here.

In December 2025, Rep. Pressley convened and welcomed home the workers and families

impacted by the cruel and unlawful ICE raid at an Allston car wash in November. Rep. Pressley delivered a powerful speech on the House floor condemning the Allston ICE raid and defended the vibrant immigrant communities who are being maliciously stolen from their homes, ripped from their families, and unlawfully detained and deported by the Trump Administration and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In June 2025, Congresswoman Pressley convened immigrant justice advocates, local leaders, and impacted families to tell Donald Trump and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): Hands off our immigrant neighbors. 

Rep. Pressley has also been an outspoken critic against the unlawful detention of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts PhD student, Somerville resident, and constituent of the Congresswoman’s who was unlawfully detained for weeks in retaliation for her protected speech. After weeks of advocacy and Congressional oversight, including a visit to detention centers in Louisiana, Rep. Pressley and Senator Ed Markey welcomed Ms. Öztürk to Massachusetts following her arrival from ICE detention in Louisiana.

Rep. Pressley has also spoken out against reports of ICE activity in the MA 7th and other municipalities in Massachusetts.

As a leading voice and legislator, Rep. Pressley’s advocacy to protect children from abuse and trauma dates back to her days as a Boston City Councilor. In her first term in Congress, she partnered with the late Chairman Elijah Cummings to hold the first Congressional hearing on childhood trauma on the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Rep. Pressley leads the STRONG Support for Children Act, which would support communities in addressing childhood trauma through healing-centered, neighborhood-based, gender-responsive, culturally specific, and trauma-informed approaches that acknowledge the impact of systemic racism and inequities over generations. She has called for such trauma-informed and child-centered approaches to every issue, including: surging baby formula to Gaza, addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, addressing sexual harassment targeting children and women girls, committing to end gun violence, and more.

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