Kenneth Glad
Federal enforcement practices are under renewed examination following several recent deaths. The incidents have intensified disagreement over how immigration officers should handle operations involving vehicles.
Three people died in incidents connected to immigration enforcement within approximately one week, increasing pressure on the Trump administration to reconsider vehicle-related tactics.
President Donald Trump responded Wednesday by urging Immigration and Customs Enforcement to continue conducting traffic stops. His comments appeared to contradict an internal policy change that AP said was intended to halt the practice.
Trump wrote that ICE was “doing a GREAT job, one that has to be done.”
He argued that traffic stops remained necessary to detain people he blamed the previous Democratic administration for allowing into the United States. “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!” the president wrote. “Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands.”
AP did not identify who introduced the policy change, how long it was expected to remain in place or whether Trump’s remarks formally reversed it.
Three deaths fuel concern
The policy dispute followed fatal shootings involving motorists in Maine and Houston. Policing experts have long warned that firing into moving vehicles can expose officers, drivers and bystanders to further danger and should generally be avoided.
A third person died during a federal operation in Florida on Tuesday. Authorities cited by AP said the 28-year-old Mexican national had been travelling with three others when agents approached their vehicle near St. Augustine.
The man fled on foot, crossed a busy road and was struck by a tractor-trailer. Florida authorities said the truck driver stopped and tried to help him. Officials did not immediately explain what prompted the federal operation.
According to AP, at least 10 people have died in incidents connected to immigration enforcement since the Trump administration began its mass-deportation campaign. Four of those deaths involved vehicle-related encounters.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins said she urged Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin “to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops.”
AP also reported that John Sandweg, who served as acting ICE director during the Obama administration, recently estimated that 18 shootings had occurred during traffic stops connected to the crackdown.
Mexico has asked US state attorneys general to examine migrant deaths during raids or in federal custody for possible criminal prosecution, extending scrutiny of the operations beyond the immediate dispute in Washington.
Source: The Associated Press
