President Donald Trump overturned a one-day-old Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo on Wednesday morning that had ordered a temporary halt to immigration traffic stops, hours after the president insisted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents must continue conducting them. The reversal came after two unarmed men were fatally shot by ICE agents within a week, neither of whom was the intended target of the operations.
Details of the Killings
ICE agents fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston on July 7 and Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine on Monday. Both men were unarmed, and neither was the intended target of the operation that killed him. In both cases, the agents involved wore no body cameras to record the incidents. Federal officers across the US had been told to temporarily stop pulling drivers over on Tuesday following these back-to-back killings.
Trump's Declaration
In a Truth Social post, Trump made no mention of either killing. He insisted that "we must be strong, tough, and smart, and we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.'s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP! Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal's hands." He added that the partial rein in "won't happen on my watch."
Whiplash for DHS
The president's post initially rebuked his own homeland security department, which had just spent a day trying to contain the fallout from the killings. Trump credited ICE with falling crime rates, repeated his inflated claim that "25,000,000 people" crossed the border unchecked under Joe Biden, and instructed agents to "keep those Crime Stat Records coming." He concluded by telling officers they are "loved and respected in America," though no reassurance was offered to the families of the men they killed.
DHS Statement
In a statement to the Guardian, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said: "Our #1 goal is to keep our officers safe and get criminals OFF our streets." He added: "Illegal aliens will be arrested and deported wherever they are. If you are here illegally, LEAVE NOW." He also warned that "illegal aliens attempting to evade arrest is dangerous," while the department offered a $2,600 check to undocumented people to flee the country.
Confusion Over the Halt
Before it was rescinded, the DHS struggled to explain its own order. Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, described the pause as temporary, pending a review and possible retraining of agents. A department spokesperson would only say that officials are "always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets" and would not discuss tactics. Fox News reported the halt carved out an exception for "the most egregious criminal aliens," meaning it was never a blanket ban.
Pattern of Violence
Five of the 11 people shot dead by federal immigration officers since Trump's second term began were in their vehicles at the time. The DHS's standard justification—that occupants had "weaponized" their vehicles against agents—has repeatedly been undercut by witness video. In Houston, the men in Salgado's van told their attorney no officer was ever in the vehicle's path and that shots came from its sides. In Maine, Durán's wife and young daughter, who was wearing pyjamas, reportedly witnessed the aftermath after he told agents he had tried to stop the car.
Civil Rights Reactions
Civil rights groups have called both shootings extrajudicial killings. Lauren Bonds of the National Police Accountability Project said bystander footage from Maine showed "another extrajudicial public execution" and urged Congress to freeze ICE's funding and narrow its jurisdiction. Angelica Salas of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights went further, calling the pattern "state violence with the direct intent of terrorizing communities through fear, intimidation, and deadly violence."
Trump's Response
None of that appears to have registered with Trump, who instead blamed "Radical Left Dumocrats" for attempts to hold ICE accountable. He posted: "I.C.E., be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job. Keep those Crime Stat Records coming!"
