ICE halts vehicle stops for US immigration enforcement after deadly shootings

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday suspended vehicle stops related to immigration enforcement, two sources briefed on the matter said, after agents fatally shot two men six days apart during stops in Texas and Maine.

The policy shift came one day after an ICE officer killed a driver in the coastal Maine town of Biddeford, about 24km (15 miles) south of Portland.

The US Department of Homeland Security released a statement nearly 12 hours after the shooting asserting that the officer, “fearing ‌for public safety”, opened fire when the driver attempted to flee agents trying to pull him over.

Officials did not explain how the driver might have posed a threat to the public or whether that would justify the use of deadly force.

According to ICE policy, officers may use deadly force only when there is “imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death to the officer or to another person” and it is not authorised “solely to prevent the escape of a fleeing suspect”.

While some video footage of the incident’s aftermath has emerged, there is not yet any public video showing the moment of the shooting itself.