Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been ordered to immediately halt most vehicle stops nationwide after two fatal shootings within a week, according to multiple reports.
CBS News reports that ICE will continue to conduct stops of serious criminal targets but didn’t provide details on what it describes as “serious.” Officials said the suspension is only temporary and would remain in effect until ICE provides more training to officers on vehicle stops.
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Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said on X that she had spoken to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Monday night, urging him to stop “all non-urgent vehicle stops.”
Two shootings, days apart
The first shooting occurred on July 7 in Houston. ICE officials told Straight Arrow that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo tried to use his vehicle to ram officers, and they fired in self-defense, killing him. The Department of Homeland Security later said that Salgado Araujo was not the intended target of the ICE investigation in Houston when officers shot him.
The agency says agents stopped Salgado Araujo because he was driving a vehicle that matched the description of one linked to their actual target. Officials said he was a Mexican national who was in the country illegally.
CBS reports that Salgado Araujo’s family said he had no criminal record and was close to obtaining a work permit. He had lived in the country for more than 30 years.
Following the shooting, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government would seek a criminal investigation into the deaths of 17 Mexican nationals who have died in ICE custody or during Trump administration immigration enforcement operations, including Salgado Araujo.
On Monday, ICE officers shot and killed another person, this time in Biddeford, Maine. The victim was a 26-year-old Colombian man, later identified as Joan Sebastian Guerrero.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said he spoke to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin after the shooting and was told that ICE officials targeted Sebastian Guerrero because he had a final deportation order. But later that day, King said that Mullin told him the victim was not the target of the warrant agents were executing.
What’s next?
ICE officials did not say how long the training would take before officers would restart vehicle stops.
CBS reported that the shift could significantly impact immigration enforcement operations. Since President Donald Trump’s crackdown, ICE has used vehicle stops frequently to carry out enforcement, allowing officials to track and arrest people away from their homes or workplaces, the outlet reported.
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