President Donald Trump stated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should continue conducting traffic stops, asserting that the practice is a crucial tool for combating crime. His remarks come after a series of recent deadly encounters involving immigration officers.
"To remove criminals from the country, “we CANNOT give up one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” Trump wrote on social media. This statement seems to diverge from a new policy that aimed to halt such stops.
In Florida, a third individual in approximately one week died during an interaction with immigration officers. The 28-year-old man was killed after being struck by a tractor-trailer while attempting to evade immigration and federal officers, according to authorities.
Details surrounding the Florida incident remain under investigation. Images showed bullet holes in the windshield of the vehicle driven by Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero. However, the officers involved were not equipped with body cameras, leaving questions about the circumstances of the shooting, including the proximity of the officer to the vehicle, whether Durán Guerrero was ordered to stop, and the specific reasons ICE believed he posed a public danger.
Tom Homan, identified as a border czar, told reporters that the investigation must proceed and that officers would be held accountable if their actions were found to be inappropriate or illegal. Maine's attorney general's office, which is collaborating with federal agencies on the investigation, indicated that initial reports suggest the driver was heading toward the officer, whose identity has not been released. The officer has been placed on leave.
Hundreds of people protested in Maine following the fatal shooting of Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national. Advocacy groups stated that Guerrero had authorization to work in the United States and was survived by a wife and young daughter.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that an officer discharged their weapon and fatally shot Durán Guerrero after the officer "feared for public safety." This occurred while officers were surveilling the home of an individual believed to be in the U.S. illegally and subject to a final order of removal. DHS stated that when ICE attempted to stop a vehicle operated by someone from the residence, the individual tried to flee, and the officer fired.
Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro described the shooting as a "targeted killing at the hands of the U.S. government" in a statement on X. The incident highlights ongoing scrutiny of ICE enforcement tactics and the president's directives regarding their use.