U.S. immigration row deepens over ICE traffic stop suspension, Trump demands return
A growing dispute over immigration enforcement in the United States has intensified after President Donald Trump criticised a temporary suspension of traffic stops by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE.
The Department of Homeland Security paused the practice following two fatal shootings involving immigration officers in less than a week, the killing of a Colombian man in Maine and a Mexican man in Texas.
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, defended traffic stops as an important crime-fighting measure and urged ICE officers to resume the practice.
“We cannot give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective crime-fighting tools, the traffic stop”, he said.
He also called on officers to be “judicious, fair and smart” while carrying out their duties.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, confirmed the pause but said traffic stops remained effective and would continue.
The decision follows mounting criticism of ICE operations, with rights groups accusing agents of using excessive tactics during the administration’s immigration crackdown.
The latest controversy came after the shooting death of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian delivery driver in Maine, while authorities in Texas said Lorenzo Salgado was shot after allegedly attempting to run over an ICE agent, a claim disputed by witnesses.
