Following a week of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle stops making national headlines, a federal special agent working in deportations revealed why vehicle stops are a «very important» part of the agency’s operations.

After the second ICE officer-involved shooting in a week took place in Maine on Monday, agents nationwide were given guidance to pause vehicle stops until further notice. That guidance, however, was overruled by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, who called vehicle stops «one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools.»

Though controversial, the agent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said vehicle stops are actually the preferred tactic for many officers, because they are safer for both law enforcement and the subject than home apprehensions, and they allow more time to identify the target than street apprehensions.

Perhaps most notably, while vehicle stops have been widely criticized, the agent explained that they decrease «collateral» arrests, which they said are the apprehension of illegal immigrants who were not the target of the operation but were «at the wrong place at the right time.»

«[Vehicle stops] lead to a higher success rate in apprehending the target that they [ICE officers] are looking for and not getting the collateral. The collateral is the person that we’re not looking for, but we encounter, and they deem them as having no legal presence and/or illegal; therefore, they are going to have an admin arrest done on them.»

ICE RESUMES NATIONWIDE TRAFFIC STOPS UNDER NEW POLICY REQUIRING BODY CAMERAS

The agent said vehicle stops are a «daily» part of ICE’s operations. They described the stops as a critical «tool in the toolbox» for federal officers working on deportation operations.

Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow on border security and immigration at the Heritage Foundation, explained that vehicle stops have become increasingly «crucial» due to growing operational risks.

«When you have to go to someone’s house, we’ve seen how difficult that can be if they don’t want you in. You need warrants, and if you’re breaking down doors, chances of somebody getting hurt are significantly higher,» he said.

«What they’re trying to do is find people and take them into custody in the calmest, quietest, safest manner possible,» Hankinson continued. «So, ideal is when local law enforcement and police presence will honor ICE detainers, and they’ll hand them over at prisons when they’re finished their sentence or their hearing or whatever it is. But when they release particularly violent criminals into the city, they will go to ground, they’ll hide, they’ll hide in places where they’re hard to find. And so, it is easier to stop them in their vehicle when they are going from A to B than it is to try to pick them up in a building with doors that are locked.»

At the same time, Hankinson called out groups using the possibility of danger in these operations to push for an end to all enforcement operations.

DOJ ACCUSES MARYLAND OF ‘ACTIVE AND DELIBERATE EFFORT’ TO PREVENT DEPORTATIONS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: LAWSUIT

The victim of a fatal shooting that involved U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents is visible at the scene near the car he was driving when agents shot through the windshield, in Biddeford, Maine, July 13, 2026. (Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

«They will pretend that what they really want is safety and that they just don’t want anybody getting hurt. But if you scratch the surface, you realize that’s not actually their goal. If we were able to carry out deportations in 100% perfect safety and security, they would still oppose it.»

In a social media post this week, Trump wrote, «We CANNOT give up one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!»

The president reasoned that the announced DHS policy shift would be «playing right into the criminal’s [sic] hands.»

Addressing federal agents directly, he then said, «ICE, be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job.»

The agent said that Trump’s reversal was a «huge» boost for ICE officers. The agent also noted that despite the reversal, new training on vehicle stops and how to respond to dangerous situations is already being administered to many officers operating in the field. They said that, especially given the increase in often adversarial public attention, they would «welcome» even more training for officers on vehicle stops.

«Any time you take a tool out of the toolbox, it is going to create challenges for [agents] to do their job in a more efficient way,» the agent said.

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The day after the Department of Homeland Security announced a pause on ICE vehicle stops, President Donald Trump has instructed the Department of Homeland Security to reverse course. (Adam Gray/Getty Images; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

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«In other words, if I’m encountering them on a sidewalk, and they see me, and they can get in the car and leave, that’s what they’re going to do. And I don’t have any recourse, or our team will not have a recourse to go after him and stop him,» the agent said. «We’d have to hope he stops or, God forbid, he crashes into something and causes property and/or bodily harm to someone else, a third party.»

«I don’t want to hurt anyone; I really don’t,» they said. «I think any sane person would be in agreement with me to say, ‘Hey, let’s look at how we can do this safer for everybody.’»

La Guaira, ese estrecho balcón del caribe que ya conoció la furia de la naturaleza en el trágico deslave de 1999, el 24 de junio quedó sepultado bajo toneladas de escombros. Clarín llegó a Venezuela 48 horas después de los dos terremotos consecutivos, que en poco más de 30 segundos interrumpieron miles de vidas.

A lo largo de 12 días, el equipo periodístico conformado por el fotógrafo Fernando De la Orden y este cronista, trabajó en la cobertura de la catástrofe natural, que deja casi 5000 muertos reconocidos de manera oficial, más de 16 mil heridos, miles de desplazados y muchos desaparecidos.

La Guaira fue el epicentro del desastre, con escenarios apocalípticos: edificios de más de diez pisos colapsados como sándwiches de concreto y hierro retorcidos, olor a putrefacción con temperaturas superiores a los 40 grados. Caracas, la capital venezolana, a unos 40 minutos de La Guaira, también padeció derrumbes, decenas de muertos que quedaron atrapados entre los cascotes y miles de desplazados.

Entre esas primeras horas clave para intentar buscar personas atrapadas, un héroe fue Bart, el perro de rescate argentino de la Infantería de Marina que, escurriéndose por túneles bajo las ruinas, marcó con precisión el punto de vida de dos pequeños hermanos. Aquel rescate fue uno de los pocos oasis de luz en medio de pésimas noticias.

Con el correr de los días la esperanza de encontrar personas con vida se tornó lejana. Aún así, quienes tenían a familiares entre los escombros se convirtieron en los primeros voluntarios. Desesperados, un reclamo repetido fue el de que el Estado de Venezuela no colaboró.

El enojo de los sobrevivientes estalló contra el cerco militar impuesto por la Guardia Nacional Bolivariana. Con fusiles de asalto y rostros cubiertos, las fuerzas de seguridad militarizaron las entradas de La Guaira para maquillar el descontrol logístico y evitar saqueos. Los familiares les reclamaban palas y máquinas para colaborar, pero se quedaban parados.

Una de las imágenes más impactantes, que incluso desentonaba con las pilas de escombros, fue la del barrio de viviendas sociales Hugo Chávez Frías, con tres edificaciones quemadas y autos incinerados. La explosión de un tanque de gas que debía estar vacío marcó la doble tragedia de de Playa Grande, en Catia La Mar, dentro de La Guaira. Hubo al menos cuatro personas que habían quedado atrapadas por los terremotos que murieron carbonizadas.

Durante el día la avenida costera de Caraballeda, uno de los balnearios más afectados, tenía un tránsito incesante. De noche, bajaba el movimiento y muchos rescatistas aprovechaban para usar a los perros.

Clarín acompañó a los equipos argentinos de la Policía Federal y del Ejército. Bajo el resplandor de reflectores recuperados de una cancha de fútbol destruida, y con el zumbido constante de los generadores, los agentes argentinos se turnaban para descansar y siempre tenían alguno de los siete perros disponibles para salir a revisar ante los avisos de pruebas de vida.

Muy cerca del campamento argentino, un puerto local fue transformado en morgue improvisada. Cientos de bolsas mortuorias con cuerpos hinchados fueron colocados bajo el sol del Caribe. En ese lugar, jóvenes como Isamar buscaban a sus familiares. Antes pasaron por los hospitales, revisaron los listados de heridos, pegados en las paredes de hospitales desbordados, borroneadas con el paso de los días.

Después de los diez días, se empezaron a retirar las brigadas internacionales de rescate y empezaron a llegar más sanitaristas coordinados por la Organización Mundial de la Salud. La entidad encendió las alarmas por posibles brotes epidémicos debido al colapso del agua potable y el caos sanitario.

Entre las ruinas, el vacío del Estado fue cubierto por iniciativas desesperadas: la cruzada de una ex Miss Mundo Venezuela para localizar niños huérfanos y, en el extremo de la miseria, la aparición de «los cobreros». Expuestos a infecciones, decenas de desocupados removían el polvo a cambio de un kilo de cobre que revender por cinco dólares.

Un crudo espejo de la descomposición social. Doce días después, La Guaira sigue en ruinas, el régimen hizo anuncios de mejoras económicas en medio del lamento de un pueblo atrapado en la incertidumbre, que todavía no terminó de recuperar a todas las víctimas de los dos terremotos.

Conservatives rallied around President Donald Trump online Thursday after he doubled down on calls for lawmakers to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, citing alarming election integrity vulnerabilities he said his administration had discovered.

«Thank you, Mr. President,» Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., wrote on social media.

«We are going to lose our country if we don’t pass the dadgum SAVE America Act. Call your senator and tell them to save our great nation.»

SENATE FACES ‘COME-TO-JESUS’ MOMENT ON TRUMP’S ELECTION PRIORITY UNDER GOP’S NEW PLAN

Trump promised a series of disclosures on the discovered weaknesses.

«Tonight, I’m announcing the immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence, revealing shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure,» Trump said.

In particular, the president said those new documents would focus on a handful of key allegations, including foreign data theft carried out by China, that members of the U.S. government had known about election vulnerabilities, that Americans had been misled for years about those weaknesses and new evidence of «election fraud.»

To address them, Trump called on lawmakers to pass the SAVE Act — a bill that, among other provisions, would require proof of citizenship to participate in federal elections.

«I ask you to pick up your phone tomorrow, call your representatives in the House and Senate, and demand that they pass the Save America Act without delay. Together, we will restore faith and confidence in our country, and we will be bigger, better and stronger than ever before,» Trump said.

Almost immediately, his calls were echoed by Republican lawmakers online.

«It is more important than ever to crush foreign election interference. It is more important than ever to pass the SAVE AMERICA ACT,» Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said in a post to X.

MORE THAN A QUARTER-MILLION NONCITIZENS MAY BE REGISTERED TO VOTE IN 4 KEY STATES, DHS ALLEGES

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is leading the push in the Senate to pass voter ID legislation, and pitching multiple paths that Republicans could take to do it. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Hans Von Spakovsky, an election expert with Advancing American Freedom, a conservative think tank, agreed.

«The president is absolutely correct that the SAVE Act needs to be passed to implement universal voter ID and proof of citizenship,» Spakovsky said.

«He is also correct that the only reason an elected official would oppose this is because that official wants to make it easy to cheat and ensure that aliens who register and vote are not caught,» Spakovsky added.

The legislation, which has passed the House of Representatives multiple times, has been stopped by Democratic opposition in the Senate, where Republicans need at least 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

Republicans hold just 53 seats in the chamber.

Despite Trump’s calls to remove the filibuster, a part of Senate procedure, enough Republicans have expressed support to keep it in place, arguing that it forces aat least some level of bipartisan cooperation over the most substantive pieces of legislation. But on Thursday, more voices demanded the Senate revisit the rule.

«The Senate needs to end the zombie filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act. Election integrity is far more important than the dying institutional ‘norms’ of the Senate,» Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, wrote on Xshortly after Trump’s speech.

Democrats, who claimthe bill would add too many hurdles for minorities and other demographics to participate in elections, bashed Trump’s calls on Thursday, including former Vice President Kamala Harris.

«The SAVE Act is voter suppression. It is part of a larger agenda of conservatives trying to steal power from the people,» Harris said in a post to social media.

«He wants you to lose confidence in our electoral system, so you stay home this November. He knows how discontent the American people are, and he wants to make sure that you do not vote,» she added.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., echoed Harris’ calls.

WATCH: ELISSA SLOTKIN SAYS SAVE AMERICA ACT WOULD MAKE IT ‘HARD FOR ANY DEMOCRAT’ TO WIN AN ELECTION

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the American Federation of Teachers’ 88th National Convention on July 25, 2024, in Houston, Texas. (Montinique Monroe/Getty Images)

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«Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. And now he’s trying to rig this year’s election with the SAVE America Act to make it harder to vote for millions of women, veterans, rural folks, & voters of color,» Pressley said in a post of her own.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., also joined in the chorus of Democratic condemnations.

«After listening to the president’s rambling address, I want him to know that the SAVE America Act is going NOWHERE in the Senate. It belongs in the trash with the rest of Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories. America, use your vote and your voice to save our democracy,» Murray said in a post to X.

It’s unclear when the Senate might reconsider the SAVE Act.