Trump administration orders ICE to suspend most vehicle stops after deadly shootings

By — Patrick Whittle, Associated Press Patrick Whittle, Associated Press By — Jack Brook, Associated Press Jack Brook, Associated Press By — Rebecca Santana, Associated Press Rebecca Santana, Associated Press By — Mike Sisak, Associated Press Mike Sisak, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-administration-orders-ice-to-suspend-most-vehicle-stops-after-deadly-shootings Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Trump administration orders ICE to suspend most vehicle stops after deadly shootings Politics Jul 14, 2026 4:23 PM EDT BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) — Trump administration officials told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to suspend most vehicle stops after two deadly shootings within a week , people familiar with the decision said Tuesday. The order came after an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian driver Monday in Maine and a week after one shot and killed a motorist in Houston, renewing criticism of the agency's tactics during enforcement operations. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. The suspension is not absolute and there's room for exceptions when executing a criminal warrant or working with partner agencies, according to a person who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive law enforcement operations. Matthew Felling, a spokesman for Maine Sen. Angus King, said the senator's office was also told by the Department of Homeland Security that ICE was suspending vehicle stops. Hundreds of people in Maine protested Tuesday over an ICE officer's fatal shooting Monday of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national. DHS said Monday that the officer, "fearing for public safety," shot and killed Durán Guerrero while officers were watching the home of someone they believed was in the U.S. illegally and had a final order of removal from the country. It said in a post on X that when ICE tried to stop a car driven by someone who came from the home, the vehicle attempted to flee and the officer fired his weapon. That was a shift from how King described the encounter hours earlier, when he said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon. King said Mullin told him the officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant, but not for the man who was shot. READ MORE: What it means when federal authorities say vehicles are 'weaponized' DHS, which oversees ICE, didn't immediately respond to an email seeking clarity on what led to the shooting. In a scathing post on X, outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the shooting a targeted killing "at the hands of the U.S. government." Petro, who has openly quarreled with U.S. President Donald Trump, urged Trump to provide an explanation and accused ICE officers of treating Durán Guerrero as "an infe