President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he doesn’t want to see the end of vehicle stops conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after they were reportedly halted by the agency yesterday in response to multiple fatal officer-involved shootings.
The Department of Homeland Security shifted a key part of its immigration policy after ICE officers shot and killed two immigrant drivers in Texas and Maine within one week. The administration has since faced intense backlash from Democrats, many of whom are calling for abolishing ICE.
Trump argued a prolonged halt to ICE vehicle stops will only benefit criminals and embolden Democrats.
“We must be strong, tough, and smart, and we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” the president wrote on Truth Social.
“Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands,” he said. “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. Keep those Crime Stat Records coming! Remember, you are loved and respected in America.”
The temporary pause for traffic stops took effect on Tuesday.
ICE HALTS ALL VEHICLE STOPS FOLLOWING OFFICER-INVOLVED FATAL SHOOTINGS IN MAINE AND TEXAS
Last week, a Mexican man in Houston was killed when he allegedly attempted to run over an ICE officer who fired shots in self-defense.
A similar incident unfolded in Maine on Monday, when officers shot and killed a Colombian national they said was weaponizing his vehicle in an attempt to flee the scene.
Democrats have called for transparent and independent investigations into both incidents. The Trump administration is conducting its own investigations into the fatal shootings.
In Maine, several Democratic candidates seeking to replace Graham Platner, the former Democratic nominee for the highly contested Maine Senate race, lashed out at ICE over the recent deaths.
Former Maine state Sen. Troy Jackson advocated for dismantling the federal immigration agency and challenged incumbent Sen. Susan Collins’s (R-ME) vote to allocate $70 billion toward immigration enforcement earlier this year. He pointed to the Minnesota ICE operation, which killed U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as a reason for why lawmakers should rein in ICE.
As ICE received the order to pause vehicle stops for now, a Mexican citizen died trying to flee immigration officers in Florida on Tuesday after he got hit by a tractor-trailer. This marked the third death in roughly a week involving ICE personnel.
