Trump Ends Pause on ICE Traffic Stops After Shootings

Two fatal shootings during ICE traffic stops in Texas and Maine prompted the Department of Homeland Security to suspend most vehicle stops by Enforcement and Removal Operations agents on Tuesday. Within roughly twelve hours President Trump reversed the suspension in a Truth Social post, directing agents to resume the tactic and stating that stopping would play into criminals' hands. The incidents involved Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, 26, in Biddeford, Maine, and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, in Houston; DHS initially described both as cases in which vehicles were driven at agents. Witnesses in the Texas case disputed that account while still in detention. A separate encounter in St. Augustine, Florida, left another man dead after he fled an ICE stop and was struck by a truck. Senator Susan Collins of Maine had urged the pause; Senator Angus King later called the reversal a potential mistake that could lead to more deaths. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and border czar Tom Homan stated after the reversal that officers would retain all options needed for enforcement while safety measures continued. The policy change coincided with ICE arrest rates reaching 2,000 per day in some periods and renewed state-level cooperation agreements, including 287(g) programs in Indiana that allow local officers to perform immigration functions. Families in mixed-status households reported sudden detentions of primary earners, while staffing shortages emerged in elder-care and childcare sectors that rely heavily on immigrant workers. Separate reporting documented rising complaints of immigration-related fraud schemes that exploit the same enforcement climate.