U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reportedly instructed its agents to pause most vehicle stops, a directive that comes in the wake of two fatal shootings of motorists by ICE agents in less than a week. Multiple news outlets, including CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and Reuters, cited unnamed sources for the reports released Tuesday.
ICE has declined to confirm the directive, stating only, “We are always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets. We will not disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics.”
Exceptions to the pause reportedly include stops involving individuals with serious or violent criminal histories, or when agents are working with partner agencies to execute a criminal warrant on someone in a vehicle. The change is said to apply to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division.
According to CBS News, the pause will remain in effect while ICE provides additional training to officers on vehicle-stop tactics. This follows the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, a 52-year-old homebuilder and father of three. Agents claimed Araujo attempted to run them over during a vehicle stop, but witnesses reportedly stated no agent was seen in front of his vehicle. His family has called for an independent investigation.
Just days later, ICE agents fatally shot Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national, in Biddeford, Maine. The Department of Homeland Security stated that Guerrero’s vehicle attempted to flee during an attempted stop, and an officer discharged their weapon out of concern for public safety. Guerrero is survived by a partner and a young daughter.
Following the incident in Maine, Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) stated she had spoken with DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and urged him to halt non-urgent vehicle stops. "While the investigation of the Biddeford shooting is not yet complete, it raises sufficient critical questions," Collins wrote on social media platform X.
These incidents are part of a broader pattern of fatal encounters involving immigration agents. Earlier this year, mass protests occurred nationwide in response to the killings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti during ICE operations in Minnesota. Reports indicate that dozens of individuals have died in ICE custody without agents being charged in those deaths during the Trump administration, which reportedly had pressured ICE to increase daily arrests significantly.