The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has temporarily suspended vehicle stops related to immigration enforcement following two fatal shootings in Maine and Texas within six days of each other. This policy shift comes in the wake of heightened immigration enforcement actions across the country.
The most recent incident occurred on Monday, July 13, 2026 in the coastal town of Biddeford, Maine approximately 24 kilometers (15 miles) south of Portland. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the parent agency of ICE, released a statement nearly 12 hours after the shooting, asserting that an ICE officer opened fire on a driver who attempted to flee agents trying to stop his vehicle.
The Biddeford Incident
The encounter in Biddeford occurred around 7 a.m. EDT. According to the DHS statement, ICE officers were conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an individual with a final order of removal. The statement mentioned that an individual departed the residence in a vehicle, prompting ICE officers to pursue it. However, the agency did not confirm whether the person seen leaving the residence was the same individual under surveillance.
The Biddeford Police Department and the FBI responded to the scene. Immigration advocates identified the person shot as a 26-year-old Colombian man who was authorized to work in the U.S. and had a Social Security number. The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente! Maine issued a joint statement expressing their outrage, describing the incident as “devastating, enraging, and unacceptable.”
Escalating Enforcement Actions
The shooting in Maine occurred less than a week after a similar incident in Houston, Texas where an ICE agent fatally shot a 52-year-old man during a traffic stop. The agency claimed that the man, identified as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo rammed a law enforcement vehicle with his van and attempted to run down an officer who fired in self-defense. However, ICE provided no evidence to support this account.
Since when President Donald Trump returned to office and launched a campaign of mass deportations, at least seven people have been shot dead during immigration enforcement operations. In recent weeks, immigration roundups have increased nationwide. According to internal ICE data, arrests in Maine have more than quadrupled to around 70 per day in early July.
Public Reaction and Protests
For much of the day on Monday, details about the latest deadly ICE shooting were scarce, with elected officials citing second-hand information shared by various law enforcement authorities. U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with the Democrats, told reporters that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had informed him that the person shot dead by ICE was a man in his 20s who had “weaponized” his vehicle against officers. However, this information was later contradicted.
One witness, Daniel Boucher a 71-year-old caregiver and part-time draftsman, recounted hearing what sounded like firecrackers around 7:30 a.m. He saw a white SUV ram a smaller white car and observed an ICE officer emerge from the SUV, open a door of the car, and pull the driver out. Boucher recalled that the man had blood on his face and head and heard the victim say, “But I tried to stop,” before the wounded man appeared to stop breathing.
Later in the day, scores of demonstrators marched through Biddeford, carrying signs and chanting as they protested the shooting. About 200 protesters marched through town in the evening, culminating at Mechanics Park, where members of the crowd lit candles and displayed written messages expressing support for migrants.
The suspension of ICE vehicle stops highlights the growing tensions surrounding immigration enforcement and the public’s demand for accountability and transparency in such operations.
