Trump Orders ICE to Resume Vehicle Stops

President Trump ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement on July 15 to resume most vehicle stops during enforcement operations. The directive reversed a temporary suspension imposed the previous day after two fatal shootings involving ICE agents. ICE directed officers under Enforcement and Removal Operations to halt most vehicle stops on July 14.

The pause applied to initiating stops and required agents to coordinate with partner agencies when executing criminal warrants on individuals in vehicles. The Department of Homeland Security issued the guidance after agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national, in Houston on July 7 and Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national authorized to work in the United States, in Portland, Maine, on July 13.

Trump stated that traffic stops remain one of the agency's most important crime-fighting tools.

White House border czar Tom Homan described the suspension as a temporary measure and said immigration enforcement would continue. Neither Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin nor Homan alerted Trump before imposing the pause, according to two people familiar with the chain of events. Trump became furious after watching coverage that suggested he was weakening immigration enforcement.

The Department of Homeland Security pledged to rapidly deploy body cameras to officers nationally. U.S. Senator Susan Collins urged Mullin to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops. A protest against ICE occurred in Portland on July 14.

A 28-year-old man died after being hit by a truck while fleeing federal officers in Florida the same day. Former acting ICE director John Sandweg estimated around 18 traffic-stop shootings during the current immigration crackdown.