President Donald Trump reversed the Department of Homeland Security’s position on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s traffic stops after he received a wave of backlash from MAGA allies on cable news, according to a report.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin ordered the pause in tactics “effective immediately” earlier this week, advising federal agents to “prioritize other existing operational methods” after the killing of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 28-year-old Colombian man living in Maine, and the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old father of three children in Houston.
Both men died in confrontations involving traffic stops by agents and were not the intended targets of ICE’s operation, it later emerged. Trump intervened Wednesday on Truth Social, posting, “We CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!”
The president stepped in after “a litany of complaints from hard-line allies,” according to The Atlantic, which convinced him that abandoning the traffic stops “would make them all look weak.”
Criticism came from MAGA figures Tomi Lahren, former Border Patrol Commander-at-large Greg Bovino, who became the face of the administration’s immigration surges in Minneapolis and cities across the country. War Room podcaster Steve Bannon also joined the chorus of MAGA pundits calling for the reversal, according to the outlet.
Officials at Homeland Security reportedly said it was “highly unlikely” that Mullin would have given the initial order to pause the traffic stops without White House approval. “Someone got into the big boss’s ear,” an official told the outlet. “Three-ring circus.”
A senior administration official said that Trump was not aware of the initial decision to halt the traffic stops, according to the outlet.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
Mullin insisted that he and Trump “are on the same page” in a statement posted on his X account. “We want our @ICEgov 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,” he said Wednesday.
Before Trump’s intervention, White House border czar Tom Homan characterized the traffic stop decision Tuesday as a “necessary short-term pause” and told reporters it was important for ICE to establish the facts about the deaths of Guerrero and Salgado Araujo and ask itself: “Is the training sufficient? Did anything go wrong?”
An ICE spokesperson previously told The Independent of the change of strategy: “We are always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets. We will not disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics.”
As was the case with the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis earlier this year, the version of events offered by officials has been met with a degree of skepticism that are often proven incorrect from witness video and testimony.
Joe Sommerlad contributed to this report
