The administration of US President Donald Trump asked officers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, to suspend most vehicle stops after they killed two people in two separate shootings within one week, sparking widespread criticism of law enforcement policies.

The administration's retreat from its confrontational law enforcement tactics came after an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian driver last Monday in Maine, a week after another officer shot and killed a car driver in Texas, amid fears of renewed protests that began last winter after two people were killed in Minnesota.

Fears grew on Tuesday after another 28-year-old man was killed when a semi-trailer truck struck him as he fled from immigration and other security officers in Florida. The suspension of vehicle stops allows for exceptions when executing a criminal arrest warrant or working with partner agencies.

However, President Trump stated that ICE should continue traffic inspections after the Maine and Texas incidents. He wrote on his social media platform Truth Social: 'We cannot abandon one of the most important and effective crime-fighting tools of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, namely traffic inspections, with the aim of removing criminals from the country!'

Matthew Felling, spokesman for Senator Angus King of Maine, said he was also informed by the Department of Homeland Security that ICE would suspend stops.

This restrained approach contrasts with the violent and threatening tactics that characterized the previous administration's campaigns in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis, as well as the crisis management efforts broadcast on camera by former Secretary Kirstjen Homan and Border Czar Tom Homan, after two US citizens were killed in Minnesota. Since then, administration officials have sought to limit controversy before the midterm congressional elections.

Trump's base and some of his advisers objected to this retreat, prompting the White House to renew pressure on the Department of Homeland Security to accelerate the pace of immigrant arrests in recent weeks. The recent deaths have reignited this debate, shaking up crucial Senate races and amplifying Democratic demands for comprehensive reform of interior immigration enforcement mechanisms.

Conflicting Statements

Hundreds of people protested in Maine on Tuesday against the police killing of Colombian immigrant Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero (25 years old).

The Department of Homeland Security said that 'out of concern for public safety,' an officer shot and killed Duran Guerrero during surveillance of a home of a person believed to be in the United States illegally and facing a final deportation order. It explained that when ICE tried to stop a car driven by a person coming from the house, the person tried to flee in the car, so the officer fired.

This represents a shift because Homeland Security Secretary Marco Mulin previously stated that the officer fired after the man tried to use his car as a weapon. Maine's congressional delegation demanded that the Trump administration conduct a 'thorough, transparent, and swift investigation.'

Questions surround the shooting of Duran Guerrero, which is at least the ninth time ICE has used deadly force since Trump launched his tough immigration crackdown. A spokesperson for the agency said in a statement: 'We are always evaluating our procedures to ensure the safety of our officers and to keep criminals off our streets. We will not disclose or discuss law enforcement methods.'

Homan stated that the investigation should take its course. He said: 'If officers acted improperly or illegally, they will be held accountable.' The Maine Attorney General's office confirmed its cooperation with federal agencies to investigate the incident.

Electoral Fallout

Republican Senator Susan Collins of the state said Mulin informed her that the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General is conducting an investigation in cooperation with the FBI.

The shootings quickly became a central issue in several competitive Democratic primaries, revealing divisions over how far to expand changes in immigration policies. Republicans plan to use Democrats' calls to abolish ICE to portray them as extremists, similar to the 'defund the police' slogan that spread in 2020.

Democrats, seeking to unseat Collins in the midterm congressional elections on November 5, sought to link her to ICE's tactics, which have drawn public scrutiny and ridicule. Later, Collins stated that while ICE's performance needs improvement, abolishing it would make the country less safe.

Maine Secretary of State Shena Bellows, who is competing for Collins' seat, described the ICE officers involved in the shooting as 'thugs.' She said during a vigil in Lewiston: 'This agency is broken, and we need to return to a time when the rule of law united us all regardless of political affiliation.'