NOW PLAYING
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump is on the same page as Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on resuming Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) traffic stops.
“Vehicle stops are continuing. Verbal guidance has been given to all field offices across the country by the Department of Homeland Security,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House press briefing on Thursday.
“The president and the secretary of Homeland Security are on the same page that vehicle stops are a necessary tool that ICE agents need in order to continue their deportation campaign of the worst of the worst illegal alien criminals from our country,” she continued.
Leavitt’s comments come after ICE reportedly ordered its officers to temporarily halt traffic stops in the wake of two deadly shootings at the hands of federal agents.
However, Trump said Wednesday on Truth Social the agency should continue utilizing traffic stops.
“The men and women of ICE are doing a GREAT job, one that has to be done,” the president wrote.
“CRIME IS WAY DOWN IN AMERICA, in many cases with numbers that haven’t been seen in decades,” he said, adding that “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.”
Mullin didn’t address it in a post on the social platform X later in the day.
“Our #1 goal is to keep our officers safe and get criminals OFF our streets. Illegal aliens will be arrested and deported wherever they are. If you are here illegally, LEAVE NOW. As our officers carry out operations to enforce our nations laws,” he wrote.
“We remind illegal aliens attempting to evade arrest is dangerous,” he added.
Federal officers on Monday morning shot and killed Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine. Last week, Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Houston. Both were in their vehicles when confronted by officers.
ICE faced intense backlash earlier this year after two unarmed U.S. citizens were shot and killed in Minneapolis by federal officers.
Add as preferred source on Google Tags Karoline Leavitt Markwayne MullinCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Comments: Link copiedMore Administration News
See All
Administration Leavitt previews Trump’s primetime speech: Election ‘adjustments’ coming by Mallory Wilson 6 minutes ago Administration / 6 minutes ago 
