ICE Pausing Most Traffic Stops Following Deadly Shootings In Maine and Texas, Sources Say

In the wake of two fatal shootings in six days involving immigration agents firing into vehicles, Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) has ordered its agents to halt most vehicle stops while pursuing undocumented immigrants, according to two sources familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. 

The policy guidance applies to agents under Enforcement and Removal Operations, the branch of ICE that detains and ultimately deports undocumented immigrants. It does not apply to the agency’s 287(g) program, which gives cooperating state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform some of the functions of immigration officers, one of the sources says. 

The pause follows deadly shootings in Houston and Biddeford, Maine, both of which involved agents attempting to stop someone in a vehicle, video evidence shows. The Department of Homeland Security has claimed that both of the drivers attempted to run over law enforcement agents, but has not provided evidence to back up those claims. 

In a statement to TIME, an ICE spokesperson said, "We are always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets. We will not disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics."

Under President Donald Trump’s second term, ICE agents have been involved in a string of shootings, several of them involving people in vehicles in situations that critics have said involved agents defying their training. “When ICE does a traffic stop, they [agents] have limited authorities, because they're supposed to be immigration related,” a former ICE agent, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, told TIME. “We weren't supposed to give chase to anyone [in a traffic stop] unless there's a fleeing felon, and we know for a fact there’s a felon who is going to endanger other lives.” 

In Biddeford, an investigation is still under way over a shooting death by a federal agent of a 26-year-old native of Colombia who was not the target of a warrant. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is running for reelection, said in a statement that the shooting in Biddeford raised “sufficient critical questions” and that she spoke to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin on Monday night and urged him to cease all “non-violent traffic stops.”

In Houston on July 7,  Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52-year-old father of three, was driving to work when he was pursued by federal agents and killed.

Deadly incidents earlier this year in Minnesota involving federal agents prompted a series of personnel shuffles in the Department of Homeland Security, including the departure of Secretary Kristi Noem, as well as the retirement of Greg Bovino, commander-at-large of the Border Patrol who oversaw the deportation operations, and ICE Director Todd Lyons. The fallout from Minnesota prompted a lengthy standoff in Congress which resulted in the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. History. DHS has recently renewed its push to ramp up deportation numbers nationwide, according to multiple outlets.