Trump reverses suspension of ICE vehicle stops after deadly shootings

WASHINGTON —

Immigration and Customs Enforcement will continue vehicle stops after President Donald Trump reversed a short-lived suspension.

The White House confirmed the reversal on Wednesday, one day after the Department of Homeland Security sent out new guidance to officers following two deadly ICE shootings during attempted vehicle stops in Biddeford, Maine, and Houston, Texas.

DHS has accused both drivers of posing a threat to public safety, but that conclusion has been disputed, and there is no body camera video of either incident.

Trump made no mention of those deaths in a social media post on Wednesday morning that praised ICE and urged officers to continue routine traffic stops.

“We must be strong, tough, and smart, and we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP! Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands,” Trump wrote. “I.C.E., be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job. Keep those Crime Stat Records coming!”

Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, said ICE traffic stops have become increasingly common as the president pressures the agency to increase arrests as part of his mass deportation campaign, which has expanded enforcement in the country’s interior.

“Before 2022, traffic stops were rare. Most of our ICE enforcement arrests were done either in jails or at the border. That’s why the rest of the country could not see these things in action,” Chishti said.

DHS didn’t immediately confirm the resumption of routine traffic stops on Wednesday. In an emailed statement, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin wrote, “Illegal aliens will be arrested and deported wherever they are. If you are here illegally, LEAVE NOW.”

The statement blamed Democrats for instructing immigrants to “openly defy ICE” and claimed that agents are facing “a more than 1,300% increase in vehicle attacks.”

DHS didn’t directly respond when asked whether a policy review around traffic stops would continue. The review was detailed by White House border czar Tom Homan on Tuesday before the suspension was called off.

“They’re going to make sure, is the training sufficient? Did anything go wrong? I’m confident they’re going to get back to their policy of vehicle stops, but they’re doing what they believe is a necessary, short-term pause,” Homan said.

Angus King, Maine’s independent senator, told reporters on Wednesday that the Trump administration made a mistake by lifting the pause.

Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who is currently up for re-election, also raised concerns about the decision in a statement.

“In certain emergency situations, I understand traffic stops are warranted, but to have them routinely done when we have had two recent shootings that are under investigation calls for a halt in that approach for now,” Collins wrote. “This is especially true because we’re still waiting for the deployment of the body-worn cameras and the increased funding for training that I worked so hard to get signed into law.”

Democrats argue that ICE needs sweeping reform and more training to prevent fatal shootings from happening in the future. Others have called for abolishing ICE altogether.

DHS said in an email on Tuesday that body cameras have been deployed to more than half the field offices so far, and the remainder will receive them in the next 60 days using a surge in cash approved by Congress earlier this year.

The department also said it’s instituting additional training for high-risk vehicle stops, among other courses. The agency previously shortened training for recruits amid a hiring surge.

“We know that the training hours were reduced. I can’t say with certainty what the reduction was from, but we must assume that it was across the board,” Chishti said.

Chishti said there are legal guardrails around when ICE can conduct a vehicle stop.

“There has to be a reasonable suspicion that they’re going after an immigration violator, and reasonable suspicion cannot just be the looks of a person. It can’t be on the basis of race and ethnicity,” Chishti said.

Chishti said a vehicle fleeing the scene alone does not justify the use of deadly force. There has to be a threat to the officer’s life, or the vehicle has to be weaponized in a way that endangers the public.

DHS said that the officer in Maine opened fire “fearing for public safety,” but the department didn’t immediately release further details.