President Donald Trump on Wednesday overturned a directive issued by top officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement that temporarily halted most traffic stops performed by the agency, a White House official told NOTUS.
The abrupt decision to reverse the pause followed fierce backlash across conservative media, which staunchly defended ICE’s increased use of the practice since Trump returned to office last year.
“We CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” Trump wrote on Truth Social early Wednesday. “Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands. The Radical Left Dumocrats would like to see this done, but it won’t happen on my watch. I.C.E., be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job.”
The ICE directive was issued after agents shot and killed two men in one week: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston on July 7 and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, who also went by Joan, in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday. Neither was the target of an ICE operation at the time of their death, the Department of Homeland Security later confirmed.
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Another man also died Tuesday in St. Augustine, Florida, after being hit by a truck while running from ICE agents.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin appeared to defend the agents’ actions, writing Wednesday on X that attempting to evade arrest is dangerous.
“Illegal aliens will be arrested and deported wherever they are,” Mullin said. “If you are here illegally, LEAVE NOW.”
Following the pair of shootings, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she urged Mullin to halt nonurgent car stops, a request that Mullin had seemingly enacted before Trump’s intervention.
“It seems to me that until questions are answered about both of these shootings, and the body-worn cameras are deployed nationwide, and the increased training is completed, that it makes sense to have a halt in this technique,” Collins told reporters Wednesday morning.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment. Mullin did not make a scheduled appearance Wednesday morning as the opening speaker at a summit hosted by The Hill and NewsNation. Other Cabinet members have spoken at the event.
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