politics
Trump Reverses Brief Halt on Most ICE Traffic Stops
President Donald Trump reversed a Department of Homeland Security order that directed most ICE agents to stop conducting traffic stops. The change came one day after agents learned of the pause, which followed shootings in Maine and Texas. Trump described the stops as a key crime-fighting tool.
Jul 15, 1:20 PM·1m read1 source
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday overturned a Department of Homeland Security policy ordering most ICE agents to stop conducting traffic stops. The policy had been issued after deadly shootings in Maine and Texas. The reversal came roughly 24 hours after ICE agents were informed of the pause.
Trump stated in a social media post that traffic stops rank among ICE agents’ most important and effective crime fighting tools. He directed agents to be judicious, fair and smart while resuming their work. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin reposted Trump’s message shortly afterward and said getting criminals off the street remains ICE’s top priority.
The original halt applied specifically to agents under Enforcement and Removal Operations, with exceptions allowed when agents needed to execute a criminal warrant on a target inside a vehicle. The policy guidance followed a public call from Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine to pause non-violent traffic stops.
That request came after a shooting in Biddeford, Maine, in which ICE agents killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national who was not the target of a warrant. The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing.
