President Donald Trump has instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to continue conducting vehicle stops, expressing his opposition on Wednesday to plans announced just a day earlier to suspend most traffic stops following another series of fatal shootings.

It remains uncertain whether ICE will promptly reverse its stance and reinstate the majority of stops, which have served as a crucial instrument in Trump's immigration enforcement measures.

Trump asserted that discontinuing those stops would be "playing right into the criminal's hands."

Trump asserted on Wednesday via his social media platform that "we CANNOT give up one of ICE's most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!"

Shortly after Trump expressed his position, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin released a statement asserting that individuals present in the country without legal authorization would be "arrested and deported wherever they are."

Although Mullin did not explicitly confirm whether ICE officers would be permitted to conduct traffic stops, he later clarified in a subsequent statement that he and Trump "are on the same page," and that they intend for ICE officers "to have all options available to keep them safe while executing our mission."

ICE’s enforcement strategies are facing intensified scrutiny following three fatalities that occurred during interactions with federal officers within the span of a week.

In Florida, authorities reported that a 28-year-old man was killed on Tuesday after being struck by a tractor-trailer while attempting to flee from immigration and other federal agents.

Prior to that, two motorists were fatally shot by ICE officers—one in Texas last week and another in Maine on Monday.

Following the Maine killing, Trump administration officials instructed ICE officers to halt the majority of vehicle stops, according to individuals familiar with the decision.

Since the immigration crackdown began, federal officers confronting drivers have opened fire on several occasions, claiming that the drivers' vehicles posed a threat.

Policing experts have long argued that shooting into moving cars carries its own inherent risks and should almost always be avoided.

At least ten fatalities have occurred in encounters with immigration enforcement agents since Trump launched his deportation campaign.

A minimum of four of these incidents involved individuals in vehicles—a pattern so alarming that Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine urged Department of Homeland Security officials “to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops.”

Two shootings within a single week, she stated on Wednesday, "raise very serious questions" and justify a temporary suspension of that strategy.

ICE has been under mounting pressure to increase arrest and deportation figures.

The agency claims that individuals it is pursuing are increasingly remaining in their residences, and it frequently attributes this to immigration advocates who advise immigrants not to leave their homes unless ICE presents a warrant signed by an independent judge.

ICE officers assert that this compels them to seek alternative methods for making arrests.

Following a Tuesday gathering to commemorate Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, the 25-year-old Colombian national fatally shot in his car on Monday, additional protests have been scheduled.

Karolina Rojas, his partner and the mother of their young daughter, posted a photograph on Instagram that captures the three of them locked in an embrace, their faces radiant with smiles.

“I love you, my darling, my life.

I love you.

I am at a loss for words to describe this anguish.

You were my entire world.

Please watch over me.

Grant me the strength to persevere.

Remain by my side always.

Do not abandon me.

I implore you, my love,” she wrote.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Durán Guerrero unlawfully entered the United States via the southern border on September 1, 2023.

Advocacy groups have asserted that, at the time of his death, he was legally authorized to work within the country.

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said the Homeland Security secretary informed him on Monday that ICE officers were in Biddeford to serve an arrest warrant, but that it was not for the individual who was shot.

When ICE attempted to stop a vehicle driven by an individual who had left a residence under surveillance, the "vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon," the department stated.

In its statement on Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security indicated that Guerrero had been released into the United States subsequent to crossing the border.

The department declined to comment on the officer who discharged the weapon.

Photographs revealed bullet holes in Durán Guerrero’s car windshield; however, the officers involved were not equipped with body cameras, which has left numerous questions unanswered.

Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a strong supporter of Trump's strict immigration policies, said on Wednesday that the state's top law enforcement unit would investigate the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston.

The account of the July 7 shooting provided by DHS is contested by three other individuals who were traveling in a van with Salgado Araujo at the time.

A public viewing for Salgado Araujo, a homebuilder originally from Mexico, was scheduled for Thursday in Houston.

More than a week after the shooting, newly released court documents reveal that the FBI is investigating whether drugs were found in the van, according to a search warrant application signed by a federal judge on Tuesday.

FBI Special Agent David McNeilly stated in an affidavit that he observed four plastic bags containing a white substance, which appeared to be methamphetamine, inside the van.

The Department of Homeland Security has not indicated that suspected narcotics were the reason ICE officers initiated the traffic stop.

The FBI referred inquiries regarding the search warrant to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ACLU of Texas, which is providing legal representation for Salgado Araujo’s family, asserted that the Trump administration “lacks credibility” to conduct its own investigation.

Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro described the shooting of Durán Guerrero in Maine as a targeted killing "at the hands of the U.S. government."

In Wednesday’s social media post, Trump instructed ICE to act with "judicious, fair and smart" discernment and to return to their critical responsibilities.

Border czar Tom Homan informed reporters that the investigation must run its course, and that officers will be held accountable should they be found to have behaved improperly or unlawfully.

Maine’s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, asserted that ICE ought to be abolished as a federal agency if it cannot be reformed.

Mills, who has previously voiced criticism of ICE, stated on Wednesday that the agency requires reform “before more families are robbed of a loved one.”