- “The killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis last week is just the latest example of what can happen to any of us when federal law enforcement doesn’t have strict rules to follow and are told they won’t be held accountable.” – Rep. Bennie G. Thompson
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A newly-introduced Use of Force Oversight Act would statutorily require the Department of Homeland Security to adopt and abide by formal, enforceable standards governing the use of force and de-escalation by its agents, creating new mechanisms for reporting and congressional oversight amid mounting concerns about unchecked and extrajudicial force. The legislation was announced by Delia C. Ramirez and Seth Magaziner, according to a press release from Ramirez’s office.
The bill, formally titled the DHS Use of Force Oversight Act, would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the DHS secretary to implement a departmentwide policy on the use of force by law enforcement officers and agents. The legislation states that officers must “use only the amount of force that is objectively reasonable in light of the totality of the circumstances” and, when feasible, must “attempt to identify themselves and issue a verbal warning” before applying force .
Under the bill, DHS agents would be required to employ tactics that “effectively bring an incident under control, while promoting the safety of such officers or agents and the public” and that “minimize the risk of unintended injury or serious property damage.” The legislation would also prohibit agents, by statute rather than internal policy, from using chokeholds and carotid restraints to control noncompliant people resisting arrest .
The legislation would further mandate that DHS clearly specify that de-escalation is preferred, require initial and recurring training on use-of-force tactics and de-escalation, and direct each DHS component to maintain a use-of-force review council to analyze incidents, identify trends, and inform improvements to policy and training .
The DHS secretary would also be required to publish a public report every six months detailing each use-of-force incident that resulted in injury or death, involved deadly force, firearms discharges, less-than-lethal devices or canines, kinetic impacts, or disabling fire against vessels or aircraft. The bill specifies that the data must be disaggregated by DHS component and include information about where each incident occurred and the circumstances surrounding it .
In addition, the legislation requires DHS to notify Congress and inform the public within 24 hours of any use-of-force incident that results in hospitalization or death, while publishing information “in a manner that protects individual privacy.” The DHS Office of Inspector General would be directed to conduct ongoing reviews of compliance with the policy and training requirements.
Under the Biden administration in February 2023, DHS elected to implement a use-of-force policy aligned with Department of Justice standards. However, according to the release, the Trump administration publicly disregarded that internal policy. Since July 2025, there have been at least 16 shootings involving DHS agents, including the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis and Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez in Chicago.
“DHS agents are not rogue. Since its establishment, DHS has operated without a legal requirement to establish and abide by basic policies, such as Use of Force policies,” Ramirez said. “They have been empowered through a lack of oversight and too much latitude to violate our rights under the pretense of securing our safety.”
“A Use of Force Policy should NOT be a suggestion — it should be mandated by law,” Ramirez said. “The DHS Use of Force Oversight Act codifies a statutory requirement for DHS to have a use-of-force policy and brings ICE’s tactics into the light of transparency. It is the bare minimum to ensure oversight and accountability of DHS.”
Magaziner said the absence of mandatory standards has allowed abuse to persist at the highest levels of the department. “The chaos and cruelty we are seeing from Secretary Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security is a direct result of policies coming from the very top,” Magaziner said.
“The DHS Use of Force Oversight Act requires that ICE and other DHS agencies keep people safe by implementing the same standards as virtually every other law enforcement agency in the country,” he said.
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the legislation addresses the consequences of operating without binding rules. “Unfortunately, under Trump and Kristi Noem, there appears to be no limits on the use of force by DHS law enforcement officers and agents,” Thompson said.
“The killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis last week is just the latest example of what can happen to any of us when federal law enforcement doesn’t have strict rules to follow and are told they won’t be held accountable,” he said. “This legislation will rein in the violent and deadly tactics of DHS law enforcement and increase transparency for both Congress and the public when deadly force occurs.”
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