How a fuming Trump reversed ICE's pause on vehicle stops
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Late Tuesday at the White House, a livid President Trump complained to advisers about the Department of Homeland Security's decision to pause the type of vehicle stops by ICE agents that had led to two fatal shootings in the past two weeks.
- The department's idea seemed to be that agents would get more training. But by Wednesday morning, Trump had sent a Truth Social post reversing the pause, leaving DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and border czar Tom Homan to try to explain.
Why it matters: The episode showed how the latest ICE shootings have revived a tense debate within the administration over how to balance increasing public pressure to stop the violence with Trump's desire for tough enforcement and more deportations.
Zoom in: Trump's post came roughly 12 hours after Homan described the reasoning for the pause by telling reporters that ICE's "training curriculum for vehicle stops" was "quite extensive."
- At the time, he said Mullin would decide when to lift the pause in vehicle stops.
By Wednesday evening, the vehicle stops were back and Mullin and the White House were insisting they were "on the same page."
- "We want our ICE officers to have all options available to keep them safe while executing our mission of deporting as many illegal alien criminals from our country as possible," Mullin posted on X.
Zoom out: The recent shootings show how Mullin's handling of such incidents contrasts with that of his predecessor as DHS secretary, the often-embattled Kristi Noem.
- The initial pause on vehicle stops came soon after a plea from Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R), in light of the shooting of Colombian national Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine on Monday.
- Collins and Maine Sen. Angus King (I) both said Mullin, a former Oklahoma senator, had been in frequent contact with them — a contrast to Noem, who was criticized by officials from both parties for being unresponsive to Congress.
- Mullin also has avoided responding with the same fervor as Noem to use-of-force incidents involving ICE or Customs and Border Patrol agents. Noem often drew criticism by immediately defending officers before any investigations were done, in some cases insulting the victims.
Friction point: The most recent shootings came shortly after ICE conducted another surge in immigration arrests, reaching 2,000 per day, according to the New York Times.
- Use-of-force incidents have increased during such surges in places such as Chicago, where there was a fatal shooting and a woman survived being shot five times; and Minneapolis, where two American citizens were fatally shot.
- White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller set a yet-to-be-reached goal of arresting 3,000 people a day last summer.
- The current push to boost arrest numbers also means some ICE staffers are being asked to work seven-day weeks, at a time when new recruits are hitting the streets.
Mullin also has inherited the repercussions of a big hiring spree and training modifications imposed by Noem.
- The shooter in Maine was a new ICE recruit with prior law enforcement experience, as the Atlantic first reported and a source confirmed to Axios.
- After congressional scrutiny of Noem's training curriculum, mostly from Democrats, ICE reverted back to a longer training protocol.
What they're saying: "Secretary Mullin is working hard to implement the president's immigration enforcement agenda," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said.
- "Thanks to President Trump and Secretary Mullin, the border is totally secure, dangerous illegal immigrants are being deported, and Americans are safer."
The other side: Trump's reversal of the vehicle-stop pause "could well lead to additional deaths, and I think the pause made a lot of sense to review the training and make sure the body cameras are fully deployed," King said.
- "So it's a mistake that may turn out to be a tragic mistake."
