ICE Ordered to Temporarily Halt Vehicle Stops After Maine Shooting

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been ordered to temporarily stop conducting vehicle stops. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin gave the directive after speaking with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who urged him to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops.

An email sent to ICE deportation officers stated that vehicle stops are paused immediately. The email instructed personnel to prioritize other operational methods outside of vehicle stops for immigration enforcement activities. ICE will still use vehicle stops in cases involving the most dangerous targets.

The pause is temporary and ICE officers will receive new training on vehicle stops. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson stated the agency will not disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics but is always evaluating its procedures to keep officers safe and criminals off the streets. On Monday, 26-year-old Johan Sebastián Guerrero was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Biddeford, Maine.

Guerrero, a Colombian national, was not the target of the ICE operation. ICE agents had been given a final order for another man to be removed from the U.S. ICE stated it was conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal.

The Maine Attorney General's Office stated the suspect attempted to flee in the vehicle in the direction of the officer and was fatally shot.