A day after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were directed to halt most traffic stops in the wake of two fatal shootings by federal officers, President Donald Trump urged them to resume.
Trump’s administration ordered the pause on most ICE traffic stops on Tuesday, after the fatal shootings of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston and Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, prompted calls for independent investigations and reignited criticism of the agency. Both were killed during federal immigration enforcement operations, but neither man was the target of those operations, sources have said.
The nation’s border czar, Tom Homan, on Tuesday characterized the change in traffic stops as a “short pause” rather than a broader administration policy change, and said ICE could do its job in other ways in the interim. But a day later, Trump argued that the stops are essential for cracking down on illegal immigration and doesn’t want them to stop.
“We CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” Trump wroteon social media Wednesday morning.
In the wake of the shootings, the Department of Homeland Security also pledged to “rapidly” deploy body cameras to officers nationally. Here’s what to know about the events unfolding in the aftermath of two deadly ICE shootings in Maine and Texas.
In Maine, local officials have asked for a full and impartial probe. The Maine Attorney General is investigating the shooting alongside local and federal authorities.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Sen. Susan Collins of Maine that the agency’s Office of Inspector General’s Boston field office has since taken over the investigation.
In Houston, the DHS’ Office of Inspector General is now leading an investigation into the shooting, according to ICE. And the FBI’s Houston field office is investigating the alleged assault on a federal law enforcement officer.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare’s office has also launched its own investigation into the killing of Salgado Araujo.
And the Houston Police Department has asked the Texas Department of Public Safety to conduct an investigation, saying doing so “will ensure it is independent and transparent.”
Teare said Monday that his office has issued nearly 20 subpoenas for evidence and witness testimony and that federal officials are not sharing evidence with investigators.
Amid the other deaths, Homeland Security Investigations – part of ICE – and the Florida Highway Patrol are also investigating an incident from Tuesday morning where a Mexican national fleeing from federal agents in St. Augustine was struck and killed by a tractor trailer.
By BBC News
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