U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is suspending most vehicle stops after officers were involved in two deadly shootings in one week. The deployment of new body cameras and training standards is also facing renewed scrutiny. The most recent case happened on Monday in Biddeford, Maine. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, said officers were conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an undocumented immigrant with a final order of removal. “An illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle. ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop. The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and fearing for public safety an officer discharged his weapon,” DHS said in a statement. It wasn’t immediately clear why the officer concluded that the Colombian man behind the wheel posed a public safety threat and whether he was the intended target of the original enforcement operation. The department didn’t provide further details on Tuesday in response to emailed questions. Vehicle stop suspensionMaine’s Republican Sen. Susan Collins said, while the investigation is not complete, the incident “raises sufficient critical questions.” She urged DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin “to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops” on Monday night. The Trump administration is now directing ICE agents to suspend most traffic stops, with potential exceptions for criminal warrants and collaborations with partner agencies, according to a source who spoke to the Associated Press. An ICE spokesperson declined to “disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics,” but noted that the agency is always evaluating procedures. On Tuesday evening, White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed the policy change and described it as a short-term pause. “I think what they’re doing is taking the pause to make sure that, number one, the ICE officers have everything they need to stay safe because vehicle attacks are up 3,400%, and they’re going to make sure, is the training sufficient? Did anything go wrong? I’m confident they’re going to get back to their policy of vehicle stops,” Homan said. Homan didn’t provide a specific timeline for the pause, but he estimated that it would last for a couple of weeks. Body camera deployment On Capitol Hill, Democrats raised concerns that ICE officers were not wearing body cameras during recent fatal shootings in Maine and Texas. “Why were these two people shot at and killed? We don’t know the answers; there are no body cameras yet,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said during a floor speech on Tuesday. “If Republicans had passed our bill, there would be body cameras, proper agent ID, warrant requirements, and other commonsense reforms, and these killings might not have happened.”The debate around immigration enforcement reform was at the center of government shutdowns earlier this year. Democrats’ push for sweeping changes ultimately failed, but the Republican-led Congress did approve $20 million to deploy body cameras across the country. A DHS spokesperson said that body cameras have been deployed to more than half of ICE field offices, with the remaining half to receive them in the next 60 days.”The halting of our body-worn camera implementation for our officers is yet another setback resulting from Democrat lawmakers refusing to fund DHS,” the spokesperson added. New training standardsDuring a recent hearing on Capitol Hill, Secretary Mullin told lawmakers that ICE training would be “back up to the regular standards” starting on July 1. The curriculum was previously shortened during the Trump administration’s recent hiring surge, yet another concern for Democrats. “These are individuals who aren’t trained to do traffic stops. They aren’t trained in many of the tactics that they are being asked to conduct,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, a Democrat from California, told reporters. DHS said in an email on Tuesday that ICE training has now been extended to 71 days. A spokesperson said that all graduates of the previous curriculum will attend follow-up courses. The agency is instituting additional training on crowd control measures and high-risk vehicle stops, among other areas, according to the spokesperson. DHS didn’t respond to questions about what level of training the officers involved in recent shootings received. Homan said he doesn’t know the agents personally, but he told reporters that ICE’s curriculum for vehicle stops is “quite extensive.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is suspending most vehicle stops after officers were involved in two deadly shootings in one week. The deployment of new body cameras and training standards is also facing renewed scrutiny.
The most recent case happened on Monday in Biddeford, Maine. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, said officers were conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an undocumented immigrant with a final order of removal.
“An illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle. ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop. The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and fearing for public safety an officer discharged his weapon,” DHS said in a statement.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the officer concluded that the Colombian man behind the wheel posed a public safety threat and whether he was the intended target of the original enforcement operation. The department didn’t provide further details on Tuesday in response to emailed questions.
Vehicle stop suspension
Maine’s Republican Sen. Susan Collins said, while the investigation is not complete, the incident “raises sufficient critical questions.” She urged DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin “to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops” on Monday night.
The Trump administration is now directing ICE agents to suspend most traffic stops, with potential exceptions for criminal warrants and collaborations with partner agencies, according to a source who spoke to the Associated Press.
An ICE spokesperson declined to “disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics,” but noted that the agency is always evaluating procedures.
On Tuesday evening, White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed the policy change and described it as a short-term pause.
“I think what they’re doing is taking the pause to make sure that, number one, the ICE officers have everything they need to stay safe because vehicle attacks are up 3,400%, and they’re going to make sure, is the training sufficient? Did anything go wrong? I’m confident they’re going to get back to their policy of vehicle stops,” Homan said.
Homan didn’t provide a specific timeline for the pause, but he estimated that it would last for a couple of weeks.
Body camera deployment
On Capitol Hill, Democrats raised concerns that ICE officers were not wearing body cameras during recent fatal shootings in Maine and Texas.
“Why were these two people shot at and killed? We don’t know the answers; there are no body cameras yet,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said during a floor speech on Tuesday. “If Republicans had passed our bill, there would be body cameras, proper agent ID, warrant requirements, and other commonsense reforms, and these killings might not have happened.”
The debate around immigration enforcement reform was at the center of government shutdowns earlier this year. Democrats’ push for sweeping changes ultimately failed, but the Republican-led Congress did approve $20 million to deploy body cameras across the country.
A DHS spokesperson said that body cameras have been deployed to more than half of ICE field offices, with the remaining half to receive them in the next 60 days.
“The halting of our body-worn camera implementation for our officers is yet another setback resulting from Democrat lawmakers refusing to fund DHS,” the spokesperson added.
New training standards
During a recent hearing on Capitol Hill, Secretary Mullin told lawmakers that ICE training would be “back up to the regular standards” starting on July 1. The curriculum was previously shortened during the Trump administration’s recent hiring surge, yet another concern for Democrats.
“These are individuals who aren’t trained to do traffic stops. They aren’t trained in many of the tactics that they are being asked to conduct,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, a Democrat from California, told reporters.
DHS said in an email on Tuesday that ICE training has now been extended to 71 days. A spokesperson said that all graduates of the previous curriculum will attend follow-up courses. The agency is instituting additional training on crowd control measures and high-risk vehicle stops, among other areas, according to the spokesperson.
DHS didn’t respond to questions about what level of training the officers involved in recent shootings received. Homan said he doesn’t know the agents personally, but he told reporters that ICE’s curriculum for vehicle stops is “quite extensive.”
