Congressional Hispanic Caucus calls for the dismantling of ICE
WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security Tuesday ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to cease vehicle-related enforcement stops, following the deadly shootings of two men in their vehicles, according to multiple media reports.
A DHS spokesperson did not respond directly to States Newsroom’s question about what was characterized in some reports as a new nationwide order.
“We are always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets,” the spokesperson said. “We will not disclose or discuss law enforcement tactics.”
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican who is up for reelection in one of the nation’s most closely watched races, said on social media Tuesday that she spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Monday night and “urged him to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops.” ICE officers killed a 26-year-old Colombian man with legal status in his vehicle in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday.
As the Trump administration aims to carry out mass deportations, aggressive enforcement has occurred across the interior of the country, with at least 21 shootings involving federal immigration agents, even before Maine. At least 10 of those incidents prior to Maine have been deadly, according to an investigation by the Guardian.
Monday’s shooting in Maine, coupled with another by federal immigration officers who on July 7 killed 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, during a traffic stop in Houston, Texas, renewed congressional anger and demand for answers.
Neither man was an initial person of interest for immigration enforcement, DHS stated.
Hispanic Caucus calls for abolishing ICE
On Tuesday, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus condemned federal immigration agents for the recent shootings, calling for congressional oversight and for the dismantling of ICE.
“An agency that acts as though it is above the law cannot be reformed at the margins,” said New York Democrat Nydia Velázquez. “You cannot put a Band-Aid on a system that is fundamentally broken. We must abolish ICE.”
“Here we are again, a brown man, a Latino, killed,” said the chair of the Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York.
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said the recent killings are a pattern with immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, coupled with conflicting statements given by the Department of Homeland Security and independent video recordings of the incidents.
The department came under intense scrutiny after federal immigration officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Minnesota prosecutors announced Monday that they started receiving evidence from the federal government about their killings after the Trump administration initially refused to turn over evidence to local law enforcement.
Espaillat said members of the Hispanic Caucus will hold a field hearing in Houston on July 24 with House Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee. Democrats plan to focus the hearing on the killing of Salgado Araujo, a construction worker, husband and father of three U.S. citizen children.
ICE to get billions
Texas Democrat Joaquin Castro said that Congress must not only use its power of subpoena to conduct oversight, but must freeze hiring at ICE and refuse to fund the agency.
Congressional Republicans funded ICE and Border Patrol with $70 billion until September 2029 through a special legislative process after Democrats refused to fund DHS for fiscal year 2026.
Additionally, congressional Republicans last year approved roughly $170 billion for DHS to conduct immigration enforcement and hire more ICE and Border Patrol agents.
“We have to disband ICE in this Congress,” Castro said. “Otherwise, these killings will continue. There will be another victim in a few days or a few weeks.”
Texas Democratic Rep. Sylvia Garcia said she has a meeting with Homeland Security’s Mullin this week, where she plans to ask questions related to the Texas and Maine shootings.
“This is a human life,” she said of Salgado Araujo. “He was not the target. He had no criminal record. He may not even be the right man. Those are very troubling questions for everybody.”