ICE Prohibits High-Speed Pursuits, According to Memo Obtained by AP
· Telemundo McAllen (KTLM)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are now prohibited from engaging in high-speed vehicle pursuits and may only detain vehicles if they have completed specialized training, according to new internal guidelines issued after several drivers were shot during confrontations with agents. Agents are now not authorized to pursue vehicles that do not stop and must instead record vehicle information for later investigation, according to the memo. The document was signed by ICE's Associate Executive Director, Marcos D. Charles, and dated Wednesday. It was sent to agents in ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations division and obtained by The Associated Press. The new guidance comes after vehicle stops initiated by ICE have escalated when drivers have refused to cooperate or attempted to flee. Agents have fired their weapons in more than a dozen of these encounters since last year, killing at least four people and injuring several others. The Trump administration has faced internal tensions over how to handle traffic stops, which are considered particularly high-risk encounters. Following the fatal shootings of drivers in Maine and Texas in July, agents were instructed to temporarily pause most vehicle stops. However, the next day, Trump took to social media to order the agency to continue traffic stops, calling them 'one of the most important and effective tools of ICE to combat crime.' The agency has faced intense pressure from the White House to deport more people living in the country illegally, and its arrests have reached record numbers. At the same time, the agency's rapid hiring wave last year led to agents with inadequate vetting and training being put on the streets. Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security commented on the policy guidelines. The new memo outlines measures aimed at improving the safety of vehicle detentions for agents, drivers, their passengers, and the public. The memo instructs ICE field office directors to ensure that vehicles used for traffic stops are equipped with lights and sirens that, when activated, inform the public that they are law enforcement vehicles. According to the guidance, all agents must wear and activate their body cameras. Additionally, only agents who have completed one of five specific training courses may conduct vehicle detentions. Agents who have not completed those courses may only participate in vehicle detentions 'in a support role' and cannot be drivers. The guidance states that agents may continue to use a controversial technique known as pinning, defined as 'using a vehicle or physical barrier to trap or stop a car,' but only if they have received specialized training. Similarly, only trained agents may use spike strips to deflate tires to prevent drivers from fleeing. The memo was issued on the same day that court testimony highlighted ways in which two agents involved in a vehicle detention, a pursuit, and a shooting that injured a delivery driver in Austin last month may not have complied with the new guidance. During a bail hearing for Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, testimony showed that the agent who shot him was not wearing a body camera. The agent who did have a camera was driving a separate vehicle and turned it off during the pursuit. Prosecutors presented surveillance video showing an ICE agent chasing Garcés Pérez at high speed through residential streets after he fled from an initial traffic stop. Garcés Pérez faces federal charges for assault after investigators claim he struck an ICE agent with the driver's side mirror. That agent then shot at Pérez's vehicle, lodging a bullet in his back, according to authorities. Garcés Pérez's attorneys have described the charges against him as 'retaliation' and argued that the camera footage was inconclusive because it did not fully capture the moment he allegedly attempted to flee. This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool. A Telemundo Digital editor reviewed the translation.
AI summary · Source: Telemundo McAllen (KTLM) →
