Barely 24 hours after the Department of Homeland Security quietly ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to stand down on vehicle stops nationwide, President Donald Trump did a U-turn.
Trump overturned the pause on Wednesday, and according to sources familiar with the matter, he was furious.
‘Radical Left Dumocrats would like to see this done, but it won’t happen on my watch.’
Trump made the call himself, first on Truth Social, writing that “we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!”
He added that the “Radical Left Dumocrats would like to see this done, but it won’t happen on my watch” and that the agency should “be judicious, fair and smart” going forward.
The reversal capped a chaotic 24 hours. The DHS sent officials word via email on Tuesday pausing all vehicle stops “immediately” and instructing officials “to prioritize other existing operational methods, outside of vehicle stops, to conduct immigration enforcement activities,” according to ABC News, which reviewed the email.
By Wednesday morning, the White House confirmed with Fox News that Trump had overturned the memo, calling it an internal directive that didn’t reflect broader policy.
Border czar Tom Homan downplayed the original pause on Fox News, insisting the DHS just wanted to review the recent shootings and any training gaps.
“It’s not a policy change; it’s a temporary pause,” Homan said, adding that the decision was made by “the secretary along with leadership at ICE.”
RELATED: ICE slams the brakes on vehicle stops nationwide: Report
Graeme Sloan/EPA/Bloomberg/Getty Images (L); Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images (R)
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin was already under pressure before Trump weighed in. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she spoke to Mullin Monday night and personally urged him to halt “non-urgent vehicle stops.”
Once Trump’s reversal went public, Mullin didn’t directly address whether stops would actually resume. Instead, he pivoted to attacking Democrats, writing on X that DHS’ “#1 goal is to keep our officers safe and get criminals OFF our streets,” and telling anyone in the country illegally to “LEAVE NOW.”
The whiplash traces back to the fatal shootings of two men during ICE enforcement operations in the last week: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston on July 7 and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday. A third man died Tuesday in Florida after being struck by a tractor trailer while fleeing federal agents, according to authorities.
In the wake of the shootings, the DHS also pledged to rapidly deploy body cameras to ICE officers nationwide.
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