ICE Vehicle-Stop Suspension Is Reversed a Day After Two Fatal Shootings

On July 14, 2026, Trump administration officials directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement to suspend most vehicle stops after two fatal shootings by ICE officers within a week — the killing of 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston and, on July 14, of Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, a Colombian national, in Biddeford, Maine. Border czar Tom Homan described the move to Fox News as "a temporary pause," not a policy change. The following day, President Trump publicly reversed course, praising ICE officers and writing on social media that the agency "CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.'s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP."

The rapid suspension and reinstatement highlighted the tension between the administration's mass-deportation targets and mounting concern over ICE's use of force. According to an Associated Press tally, at least 10 people have been killed during federal immigration operations since January 2025, several during vehicle stops. The officers in both recent shootings were not wearing body cameras, and the Department of Homeland Security's initial account of the Maine shooting shifted, fueling protests and bipartisan calls for investigation and restraint.

The FBI, DHS's Office of Inspector General, and Maine authorities are investigating the shootings; no court has ruled on the encounters. DHS has said it will move to deploy body cameras, while the president's directive keeps traffic stops in use.