Trump Rescinds ICE Notice to Temporarily Pause Traffic Stops
It has been a week of mixed orders from the Trump administration regarding ICE traffic stops. Here is the latest news on the ever-changing situation as tensions rise within the White House and around the U.S. over immigration policies.
Conflicting Orders About ICE Traffic Stops Raise Questions
Another pair of deadly shootings by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents over the last week prompted the Trump administration to announce a pause on traffic stops by the agency. According to the July 14 memo issued by the agency, agents were ordered to scale back on traffic stops and to use other tactics while in the field.
However, it was just one day later that Trump reversed that order, saying that ICE "cannot give up" its standard protocol traffic stops. In a social media post, the president said, "We CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!"
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the agency that oversees ICE, is not officially commenting on the matter.
Both the heads of ICE and DHS ordered the temporary pause on traffic stops after two more fatal shootings of civilians over the course of less than a week. On July 7, an ICE agent shot and killed a Mexican national during a traffic stop in Houston. More recently, a separate incident in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13 led to the fatal shooting by an ICE agent of a Colombian man.
The agents involved in both shootings said that their actions were justified, claiming that the men posed a threat. The two victims were pulled over after agents mistook them for immigrants who had been ordered to leave the U.S.
Once again, Americans are taking to the streets to protest the violence and the tactics used by ICE agents to implement the White House's deportation practices. Officials have confirmed that both cases involved ICE agents shooting motorists who were not initially targets of immigration enforcement operations.
The alleged randomness of the traffic stops and subsequent shootings has prompted questions on both sides of the aisle. Also raising concern is the fact that none of the agents in the most recent shootings were equipped with body cameras.
When appearing on Fox News, White House border czar Tom Homan said that the decision to pause the traffic stops was a temporary measure, calling it a “short-term review to make sure ICE agents are safe and doing the right thing.” Homan went on to confirm that it is not a permanent policy change.
The Trump administration has become more emboldened with its immigration policy since taking back the White House after the 2024 presidential election. Traffic stops have been used with more regularity during Trump's second term, leading to an increase in incidents when agents pull out their weapons on drivers. Immigration officers have shot more than 20 people since the beginning of last year. The majority of these shooting victims were still inside their vehicles when the ICE agents opened fire.
Critics Say ICE Agents Are Overly Aggressive
ICE has been widely criticized for the traffic stops and the overall aggressive nature of its tactics. In addition to criticism by Democrats, several law enforcement experts have also voiced their concern about how the current practices are in sharp contrast to normal policing standards. Some experts have said that ICE agents lack training on how to conduct traffic stops, putting them in over their heads when things get out of control in a heated situation.
The criticism is also coming from some members of the president's own party. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine spoke out after the deadly shooting in her home state. Collins said that the event raised "sufficient critical questions," urging DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to put a pause on non-urgent traffic stops.
Homan continues to defend the agency's traffic stop practices. When being interviewed on Fox News, Homan said that federal agents are also being rammed with vehicles more frequently. The border czar said that ICE agents do indeed receive sufficient training on how to conduct traffic stops.
During the interview, Homan said that he requested the training curriculum for the ICE agent academy, noting that he found "extensive vehicle stop training." He went on to say that he believes that "ICE is going to continue doing record arrests, record removals. I wouldn't even call this a bump in the road."
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