U.S. immigration agency suspends roadside stops after two fatal shootings by ICE agents

The Trump administration has halted most roadside checks conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the shooting deaths of a Colombian and a Mexican national in separate incidents within one week.

U.S. immigration agency suspends roadside stops after two fatal shootings by ICE agents

The Department of Homeland Security ordered a suspension of most roadside checks carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday, following two fatal shootings by agency officers in less than a week, according to reporting by the New York Times and the Washington Post.

The first victim, Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national, was shot and killed on Monday in Biddeford, Maine, while sitting in his vehicle. Guerrero worked regularly as a delivery driver and lived with his wife and three-year-old daughter, according to migrant rights organizations. An ICE spokesperson stated that the vehicle attempted to flee the scene and the officer fired "out of concern for public safety."

The second fatal incident occurred the previous week in Houston, Texas, where a Mexican national was shot while driving his pickup truck to work. The Department of Homeland Security claimed the man was attempting to evade arrest, a version disputed by witnesses.

Dozens of protesters gathered Tuesday outside an ICE detention center in nearby Scarborough, Maine, holding a banner reading "enough killings." Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned Guerrero's death as an "assassination" carried out by the U.S. government.

Tom Homan, immigration advisor to President Donald Trump, told Fox News he expected the suspension to be brief and expressed confidence in ICE agent training.

Source: France24

Source: France 24 - France