President Donald Trump ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to resume vehicle stops Wednesday, overturning a one-day pause that Homeland Security had announced after at least 10 people died during encounters with immigration agents since Trump's deportation campaign began. The reversal came as families mourned victims and lawmakers demanded accountability.
Trump declared that ending the stops would be "playing right into the criminal's hands" and wrote on his social media site, "We CANNOT give up one of ICE's most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!" He instructed ICE to "be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job." The White House confirmed to Fox News that Trump had overturned the pause.
A String of Deaths
The brief suspension followed three deaths during encounters with federal officers within a week. In Maine on Monday, ICE officers shot and killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national. In Texas, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo died during a July 7 shooting. In Florida, a 28-year-old man was killed Tuesday after he was hit by a tractor trailer while running from immigration and other federal officers. At least four of the 10 deaths since Trump launched his deportation campaign involved people in vehicles.
Multiple ICE sources told Fox News that agents nationwide had been instructed Tuesday to cease most vehicle stops, a major shift in the agency's immigration enforcement operations. Under that pause, agents were told to end all vehicle stops except for targets considered the most egregious with serious or violent criminal histories. The pause was described as indefinite and was to remain in effect until DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin approved new vehicle stop training. One senior ICE source told Fox News the change was "horrible but needs to happen."
Families and Communities Demand Answers
Hundreds gathered Tuesday to remember Durán Guerrero, with more protests planned. His partner, Karolina Rojas, the mother of their young daughter, wrote on Instagram: "I love you, my darling, my life. I love you. I have no words for this pain. You were my everything. Please watch over me. Help me find the strength to carry on. Stay with me always. Don't leave me alone. I'm begging you, my love."
Durán Guerrero illegally entered the U.S. on Sept. 1, 2023, through the southern border, according to DHS, while advocacy groups said he was authorized to work in the U.S. when he was killed. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said the Homeland Security secretary told him on Monday that ICE officers were in Biddeford to serve an arrest warrant but that it wasn't for the person who was shot. When ICE tried to stop a vehicle driven by someone who came from a home under surveillance, the "vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon," according to the department. Photos showed bullet holes in Durán Guerrero's car windshield, but the officers involved didn't have body cameras, leaving many questions.
Disputed Accounts and Missing Oversight
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that the state's top law enforcement unit would investigate the fatal shooting of Salgado Araujo in Houston. DHS's account of the July 7 shooting is disputed by three other men who were riding in a van with Salgado Araujo at the time. A public viewing for Salgado Araujo, a homebuilder from Mexico, was set for Thursday in Houston.
New court records showed the FBI is investigating whether drugs were found in the van, according to a search warrant application signed by a federal judge Tuesday. FBI special agent David McNeilly said in an affidavit that he observed four plastic bags of a white substance appearing to be meth inside the van. DHS has not stated that suspected drugs were the reason ICE officers engaged in the traffic stop, and the FBI referred questions about the search warrant to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The ACLU of Texas, which is providing legal representation for Salgado Araujo's family, said the Trump administration "lacks credibility" to investigate itself.
Political Fallout
Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine urged Department of Homeland Security leaders "to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops." Maine's Democratic governor, Janet Mills, said ICE should be scrapped as a federal agency if it can't be fixed, and said Wednesday that the agency needs changes "before more families are robbed of a loved one." Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the shooting of Durán Guerrero in Maine a targeted killing "at the hands of the U.S. government."
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said people illegally in the country would be "arrested and deported wherever they are," and later said he and Trump "are on the same page," adding that they wanted ICE officers "to have all options available to keep them safe while executing our mission." Border czar Tom Homan told reporters that the investigation needs to play out and that officers will be held accountable if they are found to have acted inappropriately or illegally. It wasn't clear whether ICE would quickly reverse course and resume most stops.
Why This Matters:
The death toll from immigration enforcement operations raises urgent questions about oversight, accountability, and the use of lethal force during routine traffic stops. Without body cameras or independent investigations, families are left without answers and communities without assurance that officers will face consequences for potentially unjustified shootings. The absence of clear protocols for vehicle stops, combined with the administration's insistence on maintaining aggressive enforcement tactics despite mounting fatalities, places vulnerable immigrants and their families at heightened risk. When federal agencies operate without transparency or meaningful accountability mechanisms, the potential for abuse grows. The competing demands from lawmakers across the political spectrum reflect a broader concern: that enforcement priorities shouldn't come at the cost of human life, due process, or basic standards of public safety that apply to all law enforcement.