U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are now prohibited from engaging in high-speed car chases and must complete specific training before conducting vehicle stops, according to new internal guidance obtained by The Associated Press. The memo, signed by ICE’s executive associate director Marcos D. Charles, explicitly states that officers are not authorized to pursue vehicles that fail to pull over.
Instead, officers are instructed to record vehicle information for subsequent investigation. This directive follows a series of escalations during ICE-initiated vehicle stops where drivers have refused to cooperate or attempted to flee. Since last year, ICE agents have discharged their firearms in more than a dozen such encounters, resulting in at least four fatalities and multiple injuries.
Background on Vehicle Stop Incidents
The new guidance emerges after a period of tension within the Trump administration regarding the handling of traffic stops, which are considered high-risk encounters. Following fatal shootings of drivers in Maine and Texas in July, ICE officers were temporarily directed to pause most vehicle stops. However, President Trump subsequently ordered the agency to continue these stops, describing them as a critical crime-fighting tool.
The agency has been under pressure from the White House to increase deportations of individuals residing in the U.S. illegally, leading to record arrest numbers. Concurrently, a rapid hiring surge last year reportedly resulted in some officers with insufficient vetting and training entering the field.
New Safety Protocols
The updated memo outlines measures intended to improve the safety of vehicle stops for ICE officers, targeted individuals, passengers, and the public. Field office directors are required to ensure that vehicles used for traffic stops are equipped with activated lights and sirens to clearly identify them as law enforcement vehicles. All officers present at a vehicle stop must wear and activate their body cameras.
Furthermore, only officers who have completed one of five designated agency training courses are authorized to conduct vehicle stops. Officers without this training can only participate in a support role as passengers and are barred from driving any vehicles involved in the stop.
The guidance permits ICE officers to continue using a technique known as "pinning," which involves using a vehicle or barrier to trap another car, but only if they have received specialized training. Similarly, the use of spike strips to deflate tires is restricted to trained officers.
Recent Incidents and Enforcement Context
The issuance of the memo coincided with testimony in a court hearing that highlighted how two ICE officers involved in a recent Austin, Texas, incident would not have complied with the new guidance. During a bond hearing for Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, it was revealed that the officer who shot him was not wearing a body camera, and the officer who did have a camera turned it off during the pursuit.
Surveillance video presented in court showed an ICE agent pursuing Garces Perez at high speeds through residential streets after an initial traffic stop. Garces Perez faces federal assault charges, with investigators alleging he struck an ICE officer with his vehicle's mirror, prompting the officer to fire into Perez's vehicle. Attorneys for Garces Perez have characterized the charges as retaliation and questioned the clarity of camera footage.
In a statement, ICE downplayed the memo, noting that leadership occasionally issues guidance reminders and asserting that "Vehicle stops and arrests of illegal aliens continue." The agency indicated that the new guidance supersedes and amends previous directives issued in 2018, last year, and earlier this year.