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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has privately directed its officers to temporarily pause traffic stops in the wake of two deadly shootings, though the agency would not confirm the directive publicly.
Sources confirmed to NewsNation, The Hill’s sister outlet, that such stops would be temporarily halted nationwide.
Other outlets said ICE has directed agents to pause most traffic stops, leaving the door open to stops for certain types of offenders.
However, ICE declined to confirm what would represent a significant shift in their tactics for conducting arrests.
“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.
ICE has been under increasing pressure to change how it conducts arrests, and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Tuesday she had pushed for a shift in the agency’s practices.
The shift comes after two high-profile deadly shootings during traffic stops.
Last week, agents shot and killed Lorenzo Sagrado Araujo in Houston, Texas. While ICE said he had weaponized his vehicle, other men in the van he was driving said the accusation was false, and that officers in unmarked vehicles trailed them before surrounding their vehicle on the driver and passenger sides.
Then Monday in Biddeford, Maine, agents shot and killed Joan Sebastian Guerrero. In a statement issued 12 hours after the shooting, ICE said Guerrero fled the scene and argued his doing so resulted in a “public safety threat” that prompted the officer to fire.
“While the investigation of the Biddeford shooting is not yet complete, it raises sufficient critical questions that I spoke with DHS Secretary Mullin last night and urged him to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops,” Collins said.
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