President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to resume conducting traffic stops, one day after the agency largely halted the enforcement tactic following two fatal incidents involving ICE agents.
In a Truth Social post Wednesday morning, Trump praised ICE officers for their work enforcing the nation’s immigration laws and argued that traffic stops remain one of the agency’s most effective tools for fighting crime.
“The men and women of ICE are doing a GREAT job, one that has to be done,” Trump wrote. “CRIME IS WAY DOWN IN AMERICA, in many cases with numbers that haven’t been seen in decades.”
The president blamed the previous administration’s immigration policies for allowing millions of people to enter the country.
“The Open Border Policy of Sleepy Joe Biden allowed 25,000,000 people to pour into our Country, unchecked and unvetted. Many were Criminals, and we have to get them out,” Trump wrote.
Trump argued that ending ICE traffic stops would undermine the agency’s ability to enforce immigration laws and combat crime.
“In order to do this, 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!” he wrote. “Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands.”
He also criticized Democrats, saying they would like to see the practice discontinued, but vowed that would not happen during his administration.
“The Radical Left Dumocrats would like to see this done, but it won’t happen on my watch,” Trump wrote. “I.C.E., be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job.”
Trump concluded his message by encouraging ICE personnel and thanking them for their service.
“Keep those Crime Stat Records coming! Remember, you are loved and respected in America. Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP,” he wrote.
The president’s directive came after ICE faced mounting scrutiny over two fatal traffic stop incidents that occurred within the span of a week.
On Tuesday, agents were instructed to suspend most traffic stops until further notice and instead coordinate with other law enforcement agencies when arrests involve vehicles.
The policy change followed the July 7 fatal shooting of 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during an ICE traffic stop in Houston.
According to the report, Salgado Araujo was not the intended target of the operation.
Then on Monday, another fatal shooting occurred during an ICE traffic stop in Maine. Agents shot and killed 26-year-old Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a Colombian man who had permission to work in the United States.
Like Salgado Araujo, Guerrero was not the intended target of the ICE operation.
The Department of Homeland Security later said Guerrero attempted to flee the scene, prompting an ICE agent to open fire out of concern for public safety.
Trump’s public call for ICE to resume traffic stops signals his support for restoring a tactic he described as essential to immigration enforcement and crime prevention, despite the agency’s temporary pause following the two deadly incidents.
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