President Trump has moved to restore immigration enforcement traffic stops, reversing a Department of Homeland Security suspension that followed two deadly ICE shooting incidents within days of each other.
Trump announced the reversal Wednesday on Truth Social, declaring that traffic stops represent "one of I.C.E.'s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools" that the agency cannot afford to abandon. The statement effectively overruled a DHS memo that had halted all vehicle-based enforcement operations indefinitely while officers received additional training on stop procedures.
The suspension came after two fatal encounters. ICE agents shot and killed Joan Sebastian Guerrero, 26, during an operation in Biddeford, Maine on Monday. Days earlier, agents fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, near downtown Houston. In both cases, the deceased were not the intended targets of the enforcement actions.
The shootings have renewed questions about ICE tactics and accuracy. Witnesses have disputed official accounts of both incidents, mirroring controversy surrounding earlier fatal ICE shootings in Minnesota this year.
DHS did not immediately clarify whether it had formally reversed its traffic stop directive, but the agency subsequently amplified Trump's Truth Social post on its official X account. In the same post, DHS warned undocumented immigrants to leave the country voluntarily, adding "If you don't, we will find you, arrest you, and deport you."
The scope of ICE shooting incidents during Trump's current term underscores the stakes of the policy dispute. The New York Times documented at least 22 shooting incidents involving ICE agents since Trump returned to office. Six people have died, including three U.S. citizens, with nearly all shootings occurring during vehicle-related operations.
Author James Rodriguez: "Trump's reversal amounts to a bet that the tool matters more than the collateral damage, even as his own agencies are racking up a body count that demands scrutiny."
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