Trump Backs ICE Vehicle Stops Despite Three Deaths in One Week

President Donald Trump pushed back Wednesday against a suspension of ICE vehicle stops ordered by his own administration, saying the tactic is “one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools” — even as a third man died in an immigration enforcement encounter in Florida, bringing the week’s total to three.

Trump Contradicts His Administration’s Own Suspension

The Trump administration told ICE officers Tuesday to pause most vehicle stops following two fatal shootings within days of each other — one in Houston on July 7 and another in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday. But Trump appeared to directly contradict that order Wednesday in a social media post declaring that ICE is “doing a GREAT job, one that has to be done.”

“We CANNOT give up one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” Trump wrote, adding that suspending the practice would be “playing right into the criminal’s hands.” He urged ICE officers to be “judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job.”

Senator Angus King’s office confirmed through DHS that the suspension had in fact been ordered, even as Trump’s post appeared to reverse course publicly.

Three Deaths in One Week

The ICE vehicle stops shootings Trump suspension confrontation came after a rapid and troubling escalation. In Houston, an ICE officer shot and killed a motorist on July 7. On Monday in Biddeford, Maine, an officer fatally shot Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, 25, a Colombian national whom advocacy groups say was authorized to work in the United States and had a wife and young daughter. He was not the intended target of the operation.

On Tuesday in Florida, a third man — 28 years old — died after being struck by a tractor trailer while fleeing immigration and other federal officers. At least 10 people have now been killed during immigration operations since the start of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, with at least four of those deaths involving people in vehicles.

John Sandweg, who served as acting ICE director during the Obama administration, recently estimated that approximately 18 traffic stop shootings have occurred during the Trump immigration crackdown.

Maine Shooting Draws Outrage, Questions Remain

Hundreds of protesters gathered in Maine on Tuesday to demand justice for Durán Guerrero. His case has drawn particular scrutiny because the agents involved were not wearing body cameras, leaving central questions unanswered — including how close the officer was to the vehicle when he fired, whether Durán Guerrero was told to stop, and why ICE determined he posed a public danger.

Photos from the scene showed multiple bullet holes in Durán Guerrero’s windshield. DHS said in a social media post that the officer opened fire “fearing for public safety” after the driver attempted to flee. Senator King initially said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the driver tried to use his vehicle as a weapon; DHS later described the situation differently, saying only that the man attempted to flee in the direction of the officer.

Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the shooting a targeted killing “at the hands of the US government” and accused ICE of treating Durán Guerrero as “an inferior being without rights.”

Maine’s full congressional delegation called Tuesday for a “comprehensive, transparent, and expedited investigation.” Senator Susan Collins, a Republican who faces a tough reelection in November, said she had urged Secretary Mullin to suspend all non-urgent vehicle stops and that the DHS inspector general is investigating in cooperation with the FBI. Collins later said eliminating ICE would make the country less safe, as Democratic rivals seek to tie her to the agency’s methods ahead of the midterm election.

A Pattern That Policing Experts Warned Against

Shooting at moving vehicles has been widely condemned by policing experts for decades, who argue the practice creates dangers of its own — to officers, bystanders, and passengers. The pattern of ICE officers saying they fired because a driver’s car became a weapon has now repeated multiple times, drawing scrutiny from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

ICE has attributed the increase in vehicle stops to immigrant advocates advising people not to open their doors to agents without a warrant signed by an independent judge — as opposed to the administrative warrants ICE typically uses, which are signed internally. Officers say this leaves them seeking arrests in less controlled environments, including traffic stops.

Border czar Tom Homan said Tuesday the investigation into the Maine shooting must play out before conclusions are drawn, and that officers will be held accountable if found to have acted inappropriately or illegally.