Federal police with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been instructed not to pull over vehicles during immigration enforcement operations following two fatal shootings involving drivers, the Washington Examiner has learned.A former senior Trump administration official confirmed Tuesday morning that ICE officers and agents nationwide had been put on notice to stop attempting to pull over vehicles, effective immediately.“It took affect today,” a senior administration official wrote in a text.
The change was first reported by the Daily Wire earlier Tuesday. The decision comes within one week of two fatal shootings at the hands of ICE law enforcement in Texas and Maine, as well as an incident earlier this year in Minnesota.ICE did not confirm or deny the change in policy when asked for comment on Tuesday.“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,” ICE said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.An ICE officer shot and killed 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo while federal police were conducting an immigration enforcement operation in the eastern Texas city last Tuesday, the DHS wrote in a post on X.ICE came under fire Monday after an officer shot and killed another driver who the agency claimed “attempted to flee the scene.”FOREIGN TRUCK DRIVERS IN US REMAIN A TOP TARGET OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATIONIn a statement Monday evening, the Department of Homeland Security said out of “fear for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.”Both incidents come as the White House has claimed that arrests of illegal immigrants are at an all-time high, with 10,000 arrests made in five days. The surge could mean agents and officers are being overworked.
