The two lethal shootings during federal immigration operations in the last couple of weeks have led to restrictions on traffic stops by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Initially the traffic stops were temporarily paused after the shooting deaths of a Mexican migrant in Houston and a Colombian migrant in Maine.
‘Over half of all ICE field offices now do have body cameras, and the remainder of the field offices are expected within 60 days.’
President Donald Trump stepped in to order that the traffic stops continue as part of his promise for mass deportations, but a Daily Wire report on Thursday indicated that new restrictions were approved.
Traffic stops will be allowed in operations where at least one officer had a body camera and one teammate had training in specialized prosecutions. In addition, the stop needs to have an “operational” justification.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin said his ICE sources confirmed the report.
In both recent lethal incidents, no officers were wearing body cameras. Officials explained that the rapid expansion of officers led to a shortage of cameras available in the field.
“Basically, it boils down to, unless someone has a body-worn camera, no vehicle stops can be made,” one agency source said to the Daily Wire. “Since the majority of officers do not have body-worn cameras, hardly any stops will be made.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt admitted that the body camera rollout had faced difficulties.
“With respect to body cameras, I know there’s been some questions about that in recent days. Over half of all ICE field offices now do have body cameras, and the remainder of the field offices are expected within 60 days,” Leavitt said to reporters.
“It’s been a slower rollout than we would have hoped, but that’s because of the Democrats’ decision to shut down DHS for several weeks,” she added. “So, we expect to fully execute on the promise of body cams to all field offices across the country very soon.”
RELATED: Meth-like substance found in van of illegal alien killed by ICE, FBI says — but Democratic DA disputes
The Wall Street Journal reported that the pause on traffic stops was made unilaterally by Markwayne Mullin, the secretary of Homeland Security, and angered the president.
“We must be strong, tough, and smart, and we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP! Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands,” Trump wrote in response on social media.
“The Radical Left Dumocrats would like to see this done, but it won’t happen on my watch,” he added. “I.C.E., be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job. Keep those Crime Stat Records coming!”
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