White House says ICE vehicle stops will continue despite recent shootings

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are continuing to conduct vehicle stops nationwide. The statement came after reports earlier in the week that the Department of Homeland Security was considering pausing the practice following two incidents in which immigrants were shot by ICE agents in early July. President Trump later posted on his social platform that the stops must not be halted, calling them a critical crime-fighting tool. Leavitt said verbal guidance has been issued to all field offices and that both the president and the Secretary of Homeland Security view the stops as a necessary component of ICE’s deportation efforts. The White House referred NPR to its own comments for clarification. The incidents involved Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, an immigrant from Mexico who was shot in Houston after a traffic stop, and Joan Durán Guerrero, a Colombian national killed in Maine. DHS said the vehicles attempted to flee, prompting officers to fire, though the agency has not released supporting evidence. A separate death occurred in Florida when a man was struck by a tractor-trailer while fleeing an ICE stop.