President Trump demanded Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers resume vehicle stops, reversing a temporary suspension implemented just a day earlier after agents fatally shot two people during traffic encounters.
In a social media post, the president defended the tactic and urged the agency to return to its duties. “We CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” Trump wrote. “Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands.”
The pause took effect Tuesday following separate shootings in Houston and Biddeford, Maine, over the previous week. Both individuals were killed after officers attempted to stop their vehicles, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The incidents occurred amid a broader surge in immigration arrests.
The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the president’s directive.
White House border czar Tom Homan sought to minimize the operational impact of the halt on Tuesday, describing it as a brief measure to “make sure we’re doing the right thing.” However, vehicle stops account for a significant portion of ICE arrests, and the suspension threatened to impede the agency’s efforts to increase detention numbers. The White House and Trump’s conservative allies have been pressuring the agency to accelerate deportations.
Influential lawmakers had urged Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to impose the pause, including Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican facing re-election this year.
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