ICE Suspends Traffic Stops After Two Recent Fatal Shootings

President Donald Trump said on July 15 that Immigration and Customs Enforcement should continue traffic stops, calling them one of the agency's most important crime-fighting tools. " The statements came one day after ICE suspended the use of traffic stops to detain immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security had instructed officers not to stop moving vehicles to arrest or question occupants.

The policy change followed an ICE agent fatally shooting 26-year-old Colombian delivery driver Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Portland, Maine, on July 13. Guerrero was authorized to work in the United States and lived with his wife and three-year-old daughter. An ICE spokesperson said the vehicle attempted to flee and an officer discharged his weapon fearing for public safety.

Witnesses disputed that account. A week earlier, on July 7, an ICE agent shot and killed 52-year-old Mexican Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during an operation in Houston, Texas. Immigration authorities said Salgado weaponized his vehicle to run over an officer.

Witnesses again disputed the positioning of the agent. A 28-year-old man died after being hit by a truck while fleeing federal officers in Florida on July 14. " US Senator Susan Collins said she had urged DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops.

John Sandweg, former acting ICE director, estimated around 18 traffic-stop shootings during the current immigration crackdown. ICE agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier in 2026.

A protest against ICE took place in Portland, Maine, on July 14.