An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer’s badge and weapon are seen at a vehicle checkpoint on Georgia Ave. on Aug. 30, 2025. in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on Wednesday to resume traffic stops, reversing a one-day pause after officers killed two immigrants who were in their vehicles in Texas and Maine.
In one post on social mediaTrump called the practice of federal immigration agents conducting enforcement actions during traffic stops “one of ICE’s most important and effective” tools.
The Trump administration’s aggressive deportation campaign has led to this an augment in people killed by immigration officials, including at traffic stops.
The Department of Homeland Security reported on Tuesday ordered all federal immigration officials to suspend vehicle-related enforcement actions following the July 7 killings of 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston and 25-year-old Johan Sebastián in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday.
Both men were stopped in their vehicles when immigration officers shot them. According to DHS, neither was an original goal of immigration enforcement.
Monday’s shooting prompted a demand from Maine’s Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who is in the middle of a tough re-election campaign, is demanding that ICE “cease all non-emergency vehicle stops.”
Trump said Democrats wanted a pause on immigration enforcement at traffic stops.
“The radical leftist Democrats would like to see this done, but it won’t happen under my watch,” he said. “ICE, be sensible, fair and smart and go back and do your very important work.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to detailed questions about the president’s directive. White House spokespeople did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment.
Congress is demanding action
Monday’s shooting sparked calls for action among lawmakers. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus advocated for dismantling ICE and Maine’s congressional delegation urged an independent oversight agency to conduct an expedited investigation.
“Given the seriousness of the situation and the understandable concern within the Biddeford community, we urge you to make this investigation a priority,” the Maine delegation said wrote to the DHS Office of Inspector General.
“Timely and factual responses will be critical to providing closure to the grieving community and ensuring that federal law enforcement actions are conducted safely, lawfully, and in a manner that respects public safety.”
Collins and independent Sen. Angus King also called on the Justice Department to work with state and local law enforcement to investigate the deadly shooting.
International outrage
Sebastián was a Colombian immigrant with a legal work permit. Salgado Araujo was a Mexican citizen who had lived in the United States for decades and was the father of three U.S. citizen children.
Both killings sparked outrage in their communities and among the leaders of Mexico and Colombia.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro called Sebastián’s death was “a murder of a Colombian, a Latin American, by the US government.”
In a social media post written in Spanish, Petro said he expected to hear from Trump about the shooting.
“They killed him because they believed he was an inferior being with no rights, and as a person he had all the rights given to a human being simply by birth, and he was a citizen with rights in the United States,” he said.
He added that “ICE is an organization that must be denounced worldwide.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Announced Monday that her administration will file complaints with the Justice Department relating not only to the death of Salgado Araujo, but also to states where Mexican nationals have died in U.S. federal prisons or in immigration enforcement.
“I don’t think this situation seems acceptable to anyone,” she said, according to the Texas Tribune. “This is a problem for all Mexicans.”
