RSF Demands ICE Honor Its Policies and Respect Journalists’ Rights

October 15, 2025 – USA – 

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has issued a public admonition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), calling on the agency to respect the rights of journalists and adhere to its own internal rules amid mounting reports of assaults on press personnel. The criticism follows documented instances between September 26 and 30, during which at least seven journalists allege having been physically attacked by ICE agents while covering protests and court actions.

One high-profile incident occurred at the Federal Plaza Immigration Court in New York City, where an ICE agent was captured on video violently shoving two photojournalists in a hallway. One of them, L. Vural Elibo from Anadolu, was reportedly hospitalized. In another case, during protests at a facility in Broadview, Illinois (a Chicago suburb), multiple journalists said ICE or federal agents used pepper balls, direct targeting, and aggressive crowd control tactics as they recorded the events.

RSF underlines that these actions are in direct conflict with an ICE directive issued in 2022, which explicitly states that agency personnel must ensure their law enforcement activities “do not improperly or unnecessarily impinge on the newsgathering activities of members of the news media.” The advocacy group asserts that while the policy is on paper, ICE personnel increasingly disregard it—especially under the current administration.

In its statement, RSF urged ICE leadership to enforce the agency’s own rules and discipline agents who violate journalists’ protections. The group warned that tolerating violence against journalists risks normalizing aggression and removing essential safeguards for press freedom. RSF’s U.S. director, Clayton Weimers, said that the violence not only endangers individual reporters but threatens First Amendment protections more broadly.

In a related development, a federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order in the Northern District of Illinois, preventing Department of Homeland Security agents—under which ICE operates—from using indiscriminate force against journalists in that jurisdiction. Nonetheless, RSF stresses that lasting reform depends on ICE itself enforcing internal compliance and ensuring that its agents uphold journalism rights across the entire country.

Reference – 

https://rsf.org/en/usa-ice-must-respect-journalists-rights-following-its-own-rules