ICE agents nationwide have been ordered to halt traffic stops after two fatal shootings within a week as officers attempted to pull over vehicles they believed contained immigration scofflaws.
“Numbers are going down, we can’t do s–t,” an ICE source vented to the Daily Wire, referring to arrests of illegal immigrants.
Disallowing vehicle stops could deprive ICE agents of a key avenue for catching immigration violators, and instead force officers to enter suspects’ homes where they could have weapons.
It also adds the obstacle of requiring a search warrant signed off by a judge before entering a home, which is not a requirement in vehicular stops.
The reported exception to the revised policy is when agents have a criminal warrant, but even then they must work with outside agencies when initiating a motor vehicle stop, according to Daily Wire, which broke the news.
The enforcement shift follows two fatal shootings by ICE agents of people who were not the target of operations.
A 26-year-old Colombian man who was shot as agents pulled him over in Biddleford, Maine.
ICE said he tried to run officers over with his car.
Last Tuesday Mexican illegal immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed during an ICE vehicle stop.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment or verification of the new edict.
