Thousands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are caught in a disagreement between President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin over ICE’s ability to conduct traffic stops, all while sentiment about the president’s second DHS boss turns negative among some of the president’s closest supporters.
In the wake of two ICE-involved fatal shootings of illegal immigrants in Texas and Maine in one week, Mullin directed ICE officers to stop pursuing vehicles when attempting to make arrests. The move was announced internally by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations assistant director for field operations and took effect Tuesday morning.
Less than 24 hours later, Trump publicly undercut Mullin and demanded the traffic stops continue, stating in a Truth Social post on Wednesday morning that “we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!”
Several ICE employees and two officials familiar with ICE’s internal planning told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday afternoon they had not received notice from ICE or the Department of Homeland Security to restart traffic stops and suggested the Trump administration’s vacillating response to the shootings had only caused more problems.
“We haven’t received an email saying stops have been resumed,” an ICE officer hired prior to Trump’s second term wrote in a text message.
A second officer with roughly a decade of experience confirmed he had not received updated guidance as of late Wednesday afternoon.
“Who’s in charge?” the first ICE officer asked. “This is very much the administration’s MO for over a year. Reactionary. No thought process. Band aid solutions.”
A former senior Trump DHS official told the Washington Examiner that the department had “gathered enough statistics” showing that “bad things happen at traffic stops” but that the stops are nonetheless still “the best tool” for making arrests.
The second ICE officer agreed and said a “majority” of illegal immigrants taken into custody inside the United States were encountered as a result of traffic stops.
MAGA turns on Mullin
DHS did not address the question head-on when asked on Wednesday if traffic stops would begin again. Senior White House officials similarly declined to comment on the timeline for restarting the traffic stops and instead took issue with the semantics of the question.
White House officials maintained that no policy was put forward by DHS to halt traffic stops but that the change in approach was stated in a memo distributed to DHS staff from ICE — even while the officials reiterated to the Washington Examiner that Trump personally overruled Mullin.
Laura Loomer, a conservative activist known for frequently influencing Trump’s own policy and personnel decisions, told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday that she has been speaking to senior White House officials “for months about how bad [Mullin] is.”
“We are being betrayed in real time,” Fox News’s Tomi Lahren posted Tuesday on X regarding Mullin’s decision. “If you want Trump voters to stay home in November, keep this up, Markwayne and co.”
Mike Davis, a veteran Republican operative and attorney with close ties to the administration, wrote Tuesday night that he “personally” likes Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and even “donated to her reelection campaign” but claimed that “in no way, shape, or form should Susan Collins dictate DHS policy.” Collins, running in a tough race in Maine, where one of the shootings occurred, had called on ICE to pause traffic stops.
“The fact Markwayne Mullin doesn’t understand this proves why he shouldn’t be in this job,” he concluded.
A longtime advisor to the president told the Washington Examiner “it’s pretty obvious that the White House noticed” the significant backlash to Mullin’s announcement from conservative voices on social media.
Mullin defended his decision when asked about it Wednesday.
“Our #1 goal is to keep our officers safe and get criminals OFF our streets. Illegal aliens will be arrested and deported wherever they are. If you are here illegally, LEAVE NOW. As our officers carry out operations to enforce our nations laws, they are facing a more than 1,300% increase in vehicle attacks,” Mullin said in a statement. “We remind illegal aliens attempting to evade arrest is dangerous.”
The Left’s anti-ICE organizing causes headaches
DHS blamed Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, for educating illegal immigrants through flyers and online resources that teach “how to recognize ICE, block entry, and defy arrest.”
The second ICE officer said illegal immigrants have become “emboldened to flee” when law enforcement has attempted traffic stops, such as the case in Houston. As two unmarked black SUVs attempted to pull over a white commercial van, the driver did not stop. One of the ICE officers opened fire, killing the driver, who was not the original target of the pursuit.
DHS had ICE notify all personnel in the hours after an ICE officer fatally shot a man in Maine on Monday to cease all traffic stops, meaning all arrests must take place while the person police are after is out of his or her vehicle.
The decision was meant to help ICE catch its breath and save face after the second fatal shooting by an ICE officer in a week and the first fatal shootings in six months.
No matter the sequencing, the entire episode underlines how immigration, a winning issue for Republicans for the bulk of Trump’s career, is now endangering some at-risk GOP candidates ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Collins said Tuesday she personally asked Mullin to end immigration officials’ use of traffic stops following the deadly shooting in her state. Collins, a centrist and the longest-serving Senator in Maine’s history, is facing significant progressive opposition this November, even with Democrats scrambling to find a replacement for disgraced Democratic nominee Graham Platner on the ticket.
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Meanwhile, in traditionally deep-red Texas, where the Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton is facing a tough challenge from progressive state Rep. James Talarico for U.S. Senate, the GOP is losing ground with Hispanic voters who swung for Trump in 2024.
A 1,000-respondent survey, commissioned by the U.S. Hispanic Business Council in June, found 1 in 5 Hispanic business owners in Texas have had an employee deported since Trump entered office, and that 70% say their businesses have been negatively affected by the president’s tariffs. Furthermore, the survey showed nearly 25% of Hispanic respondents backed Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) over Paxton in the GOP primary but now plan to vote for Talarico. Talarico held a 7-point lead overall in the USHBC survey.
