A major immigration-enforcement change has just landed.
ICE agents have reportedly been told to immediately stop conducting most vehicle stops across the country.
The exception is narrow: operations targeting the most egregious criminal aliens may continue.
The reported instruction was described this way:
BREAKING: Per multiple federal sources to @FoxNews, ICE has been instructed to immediately cease most vehicle stops during immigration enforcement operations nationwide, except for operations targeting the most egregious criminal aliens.
This comes after two people were killed by ICE in shootings in TX and ME in the last week in incidents that began as vehicle stops. DHS alleges one of those incidents was a ramming attempt.
I’m told this will be temporary until ICE officers receive new training on vehicle stops. The policy change will have significant impacts as many of ICE’s arrests begin as vehicle stops when they find and follow a target.
First scooped by @JennieSTaer
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 14, 2026
The distinction between temporary and indefinite is important.
Fox’s sourcing says the pause will remain until officers receive new training on vehicle stops. Neither ICE nor DHS had released a public written copy of the reported instruction at publication time.
The original exclusive from Daily Wire is based on three Homeland Security sources who described an immediate halt affecting enforcement teams nationwide. Those sources said officers had been told there would be no more vehicle stops for the time being.
That change reaches deep into the way ICE conducts arrests. Officers commonly identify a target, follow the person’s vehicle and make the arrest away from a residence, where entering without permission generally requires a judicial warrant.
The available exception appears to apply when agents are pursuing an especially serious criminal target. Even then, one source indicated that another law-enforcement agency may need to conduct the stop while ICE officers move in afterward.
Those limits could quickly reduce daily arrest totals. A large share of ICE field work begins with surveillance and a vehicle stop, so removing that tactic leaves officers with fewer practical opportunities to take a target into custody.
The timing follows two deadly encounters in less than a week.
The most recent happened Monday morning in Biddeford, Maine.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, agents were conducting surveillance connected to a person with a final removal order when another man left the residence in a vehicle.
DHS said the driver tried to flee when officers attempted a stop. An officer opened fire after allegedly fearing for public safety, and the driver later died.
Here is the department’s complete initial statement:
On July 13, 2026, at approximately 7:00 AM ET, ICE was conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal. An illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle. ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop. The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon. The driver of the vehicle was struck, and emergency services were immediately contacted. He passed away from his injuries. The Biddeford Police Department and FBI responded to the scene. DHS OIG has been notified and like all discharge of firearms this will be investigated. This is a developing situation, and we will update the public when more information is available.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 13, 2026
The Biddeford Police Department and FBI responded, while the DHS Office of Inspector General was notified.
That investigation remains open. The department’s statement is its account of the shooting, rather than a final determination of what happened.
Six days earlier, another attempted vehicle stop ended with a fatal shooting in Houston.
DHS identified the driver as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who was not the original target of the operation. The department alleges that he rammed an ICE vehicle and then tried to drive at an officer.
The officer fired, Salgado Araujo was struck, and he later died at a hospital. DHS said its inspector general is investigating the shooting while the FBI examines the alleged assault on a federal officer.
The original scoop summarized the new order:
EXCLUSIVE: ICE Orders Agents To Cease All Vehicle Stops After Recent Shootings https://t.co/yBF9YqTVeq
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) July 14, 2026
Retraining officers after two fatal encounters is a serious response to a serious problem.
The operational cost is equally real. Vehicle stops have been one of ICE’s most important tools for arresting targets without turning every operation into a doorstep confrontation.
The order also raises a crucial question: how quickly can the new training be delivered?
Every day the pause remains in effect, enforcement teams will be working with a major tactic removed from the table. The exact meaning of “most egregious” will also determine how broad the exception becomes in practice.
For now, the available reporting describes an immediate nationwide restriction, a limited criminal-alien exception and a temporary path back through retraining.
That is a dramatic shift for the agency carrying out President Trump’s mass-deportation agenda, and its effects will be felt almost immediately.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
What are your thoughts?
