News group sues ICE for raid footage

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — An investigative news organization is suing ICE in an effort to force the government to hand over videos of ICE raids.

On Friday, the Center for Investigative Reporting filed a complaint against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in federal court in Northern California.

After failed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to obtain video footage of ICE actions in Los Angeles and Chicago, the group is seeking declaratory relief that these videos are public record and open to disclosure.

“To date, neither agency has complied with FOIA’s statutory deadlines,” the Center for Investigative Reporting says in its suit. “ICE and CBP have therefore violated the FOIA and have contravened the FOIA’s purpose, because the withheld information will greatly inform the public about ‘what their government is up to.’"

The requested videos are “nearly identical in nature to records that the agency has previously released to the public," the Center added.

“Public records are essential to independently verify official accounts of incidents like those recently seen in Minneapolis,” Victoria Baranetsky, general counsel for the Center for Investigative Reporting, said in a statement to Courthouse News. “When ICE uses footage for public relations, it is especially important the agency disclose it for public accountability."

The Center filed requests for records with both ICE and CBP. The group requested footage from Chicago between Sep. 30 and Oct. 2, 2025, when federal officials were conducting what they called “Operation Midway Blitz.”

The Center knows ICE agents filmed a raid at an apartment building on the South Side of Chicago because parts of that footage were published in a promotional social-media video by the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of both CBP and ICE. Officials added dramatic effects to the one-minute video, including helicopter sounds and background music.

The Center also requested footage from ICE operations in Los Angeles — including a June 12, 2025 raid near Huntington Park; a July 7, 2025 action near MacArthur Park; and an Aug. 14, 2024 operation near the Japanese American History Museum.

The Center notes in its complaint that much is of footage captured by ICE agents comes from body-worn cameras. But the group says the agency also uses contracted videographers, who “regularly accompany agents during ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.”

This week, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said on social media all ICE agents currently in Minneapolis would receive body cameras.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Based in San Francisco, the Center for Investigative Reporting was founded as a nonprofit national news organization in 1976.