Sen. Collins urges DHS secretary to halt non-urgent vehicle stops
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has privately directed agents in its Enforcement and Removal Operations division to pause initiating traffic stops following two fatal shootings during vehicle stops in less than a week, according to a source familiar with the guidance.
The directive applies to agents who fall under Enforcement and Removal Operations, the branch within ICE charged with the arrest and deportation of undocumented immigrants, and imposes a pause on initiating stops, the source told CNN. Officers have been directed to use other methods for general immigration enforcement, which makes up a large share of their work, and to coordinate with partner agencies when executing a criminal warrant on a person in a vehicle.
The two fatal shootings unfolded roughly a week apart and both involved vehicle stops, which the federal agency has frequently leaned on to ramp up immigration arrests, according to the source. On Monday, federal immigration officers fatally shot a man in Biddeford, Maine, during an enforcement operation. Roughly a week earlier, ICE officers fatally shot a man in Houston during a morning traffic stop.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican who is running for re-election this year, said in a statement on Tuesday that the shooting in Biddeford raised important questions. She said she had urged Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to “cease all non-urgent vehicle stops.”
The White House referred a request for comment to ICE, which said in a statement that the agency would not discuss law enforcement tactics. The agency would not confirm the directive publicly.