White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will keep conducting vehicle stops. The announcement followed reports of a planned pause after two fatal shootings earlier in July.
Leavitt told reporters that verbal guidance had been issued to field offices nationwide. She said the president and the secretary of homeland security agree that stops remain necessary for deporting criminal noncitizens.
President Trump posted on Truth Social earlier in the week that ending the practice would benefit criminals. He called traffic stops one of ICE's most effective tools.
The comments came after shootings in Houston and Maine. In Houston, agents shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. In Maine, agents shot Joan Durán Guerrero. Neither incident involved body cameras.
DHS said over half of ICE field offices now have body cameras, with the rest expected within 60 days.
