Trump officials urged to halt violence against journalists amid ICE protests

"After a year in which US journalists faced a dramatic increase in violence from law enforcement, news organizations and advocacy groups have recently tried to better protect reporters through outreach to the Department of Homeland Security. Over the last four months, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and a collection of New York news outlets have sent letters to the Department of Homeland Security attempting to open dialogue to reduce confrontations between law enforcement officers and journalists at protests,"

"Meanwhile, the Trump administration recently announced that it hired thousands of new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and will escalate operations this year as part of its deportation efforts that DHS is coordinating. That push accentuated by the outrage over a Minnesota woman being killed by an ICE officer this week will probably mean more protests and potentially more violence against journalists."

"It's unclear if the messages to the DHS will help keep journalists safe. We don't know if ICE is going to step up its immigration efforts in New York that depends on a lot of political factors but we certainly have seen it happen [elsewhere], and the way ICE has conducted itself in those cities gives some cause for concern that not having those channels of communication is bad for everybody,"

US journalists experienced a dramatic increase in violence from law enforcement last year. News organizations and advocacy groups have sent letters to the Department of Homeland Security over the past four months to open dialogue and reduce confrontations between officers and journalists at protests, especially those linked to deportation actions. The Trump administration announced thousands of new ICE hires and plans to escalate deportation operations, a push intensified by a recent killing by an ICE officer that is likely to spur more protests and potential risks to reporters. Reported alleged assaults rose, according to Freedom of the Press Foundation data.

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