ICE Agents Barred From Traffic Stops After Fatal Shootings
Policy shift follows two deaths in Texas and Maine, sparking scrutiny over enforcement tactics and accountability.
Callum Smith
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have received new instructions, prohibiting them from performing traffic stops following two fatal shootings.
The policy change directly addresses incidents in Texas and Maine, where two individuals died during attempted vehicle stops by ICE agents.
In Maine, federal immigration agents shot and killed Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 28-year-old Colombian man, during an attempted vehicle stop.
Senator Angus King of Maine confirmed Guerrero was not the intended target of the ICE operation.
Homeland Security initially claimed an officer opened fire after Guerrero attempted to use his vehicle as a weapon against officers.
The agency later revised its statement, asserting Guerrero's vehicle attempted to flee the scene, prompting an officer to discharge his weapon due to public safety concerns.
Officers attempted a vehicle stop when the vehicle tried to flee; an officer then fired his weapon.
Witnesses have disputed official accounts of the fatal shooting, with some claiming an unmarked SUV rammed Guerrero's car.
Other witnesses claimed Guerrero's vehicle tried to hit the officer.
Immigration advocates, including the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition and Presente! Maine, along with local lawmakers and neighbors, stated Guerrero was authorized to work in the US and possessed a social security number.
Beyond the legal debate in Maine, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo also died in a separate immigration enforcement operation in Texas.
He, too, was not the intended target of the ICE stop that led to his death.
Homeland Security initially claimed Salgado Araujo attempted to evade arrest and weaponized his vehicle, trying to run over an ICE officer who then fired in self-defense.
Surviving passengers in Salgado Araujo's van dispute this account, stating no agent stood in front of the van and that the shots came through its passenger side.
Two individuals held in connection with the Houston shooting also stated officers were on the passenger side and shot Salgado Araujo, who was driving, through the passenger side window.
Homeland Security admitted agents involved in the Salgado Araujo shooting were not wearing body cameras.
The agency blamed a partial government shutdown for preventing the purchase of body cameras, impacting accountability measures.
The Department of Justice policy prohibits officers from firing at a moving vehicle unless no other objectively reasonable means of defense exist.
These recent deaths intensify scrutiny on enforcement tactics; at least seven people have died in immigration enforcement operations since January 2025.
The state's Office of the Attorney General will investigate the shooting in Maine in coordination with federal authorities.
Secretary Markwayne Mullin of Homeland Security directed ICE to temporarily suspend all vehicle stops nationwide following the incidents.