President Donald Trump on Wednesday, July 15th, 2026, urged Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to continue using traffic stops, describing the tactic as one of the agency’s “most important and effective” crime-fighting tools. Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump praised ICE, saying the agency is “doing a GREAT job, one that has to be done.”

Trump emphasized the need to remove criminals he claims were allowed into the country under the previous Democratic administration, stating, “we must be strong, tough and smart and we CANNOT give up one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP! Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands.”

This statement appears to contradict a recent policy change that halted traffic stops following a series of fatal shootings involving ICE officers. The policy shift came after an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian driver in Maine on Monday, and a week earlier, another officer shot and killed a motorist in Houston. These incidents renewed criticism of ICE’s enforcement tactics, which were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.

In addition, a third man died in Florida on Tuesday during an encounter with immigration officers. Authorities said the 28-year-old man was killed after being hit by a tractor trailer while fleeing immigration and other federal officers.

Since the start of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, at least 10 people have died during immigration operations. John Sandweg, who served as acting ICE director during the Obama administration, recently estimated there have been roughly 18 traffic-stop shootings during the Trump immigration crackdown.

In response to the recent fatalities, Senator Susan Collins said Tuesday she urged Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to “cease all non-urgent vehicle stops.”

Sources