(WCIV) — Local state representative Wendell Gilliard is calling for ICE agents operating in South Carolina to wear active body-worn cameras after a growing number of people have been killed during recent ICE enforcement operations across the country. In a letter penned to Governor Henry McMaste r, Gilliard is asking him to call on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and South Carolina’s Congressional Delegation to require active body-worn cameras, stating that regardless of one’s stance on immigration, transparency is key. ‘In light of the growing number of people of every creed, color, and background who have been harmed during ICE enforcement operations, transparency is no longer optional. ICE reported 78 use-of-force incidents in a single fiscal year, including incidents resulting in death and serious injury, while recent fatal shootings involving agents without body cameras have only deepened public concern. Accountability begins with ensuring that every enforcement encounter is recorded,’ Wendell said in his letter. This comes after a man was shot and killed by ICE agents in Biddeford Maine on Monday. Reportedly the man killed in the shooting had been stopped in a traffic stop, and when he tried to flee in his vehicle, the ICE agent who was reportedly fearing for public safety, shot and killed the man. According to the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, the man killed was 26-year-old Joan Sebastian Guerrero. Guerrero reportedly entered the country illegally but was authorized to work in the United States and had been issued a Social Security number. No body worn camera footage was captured during this incident. This fact has created a complicated issue as now an investigation must be conducted into not only what happened in the incident but also whether the use of deadly force was legally justified. Wendell states in his letter that in cases such as this, active body worn cameras would both protect the public and safeguard law enforcement from false allegations. ‘Body-worn cameras protect the public, safeguard law enforcement officers from false allegations, preserve critical evidence, and strengthen trust in our justice system. Accountability should not end where federal jurisdiction begins,’ he stated in his letter to McMaster. Monday’s shooting was the third fatal shooting involving an ICE agent in the United States this year. In response to the shooting in Maine as well as the deadly July 7 shooting in Texas which also involved a failed traffic stop, ICE agents have been ordered by the Department of Homeland Security to temporarily stop traffic stops. To make matters more complicated, despite the two deadly shootings which were directly connected to traffic stop incidents, Trump is fighting back against the pause in traffic stops. He states that ICE should not “give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective crime fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” and claimes that “CRIME IS WAY DOWN IN AMERICA.”   Categories: News, Politics, State Tags: ICE agents, South Carolina ...read more read less