ICE Issues New Guidance Limiting Traffic Stops and Car Chases
ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations division received a memo Wednesday ordering officers to stop no vehicles unless they have cleared specific training and banning high-speed chases under any circumstances.
- More than a dozen ICE vehicle stops ended in gunfire since last year.
- At least 4 people were killed; several others were wounded in those encounters.
- 5 specific agency training courses qualify an officer to lead vehicle stops.
- Untrained officers may ride only as passengers, not drive or lead stops.
Why it matters: The memo responds to a clash between operational pressure and safety failures. The White House pushed ICE to record arrest numbers while a fast hiring surge put some inadequately trained officers in the field.
- All stop vehicles must have working lights and sirens; every officer present must wear and activate a body camera.
- Pinning — trapping a car with a vehicle or barrier — and spike strips remain permitted, but only for specially trained officers.
How 9 sources split on this story
Where they split: The core dispute is whether the new rules represent meaningful accountability or a procedural adjustment that leaves the underlying enforcement posture unchanged.
Center coverage, 3 sources: The center presents the memo as a bureaucratic course-correction balancing White House pressure for aggressive enforcement against growing safety and legal risks from undertrained officers.
Left coverage, 5 sources: The left frames the guidance as a belated and incomplete response to a pattern of unjustified shootings, spotlighting the Austin case as evidence that accountability is still absent.
The Independent4hNew ICE guidance bans high-speed car chases and sets tighter rules for traffic stops, a memo shows
ABC News4hICE sets limits on which officers can stop vehicles
CNN7hExclusive: ICE officers can only conduct vehicle stops if they complete certain training, new guidance shows
MSNBC3hICE imposes new training requirements for officers conducting vehicle stopsTBGThe Boston Globe3hICE memo sets tighter rules for traffic stops, AP reports
What’s next: ICE and DHS had not publicly commented on the memo as of Wednesday evening.
- A bond hearing in Austin this week showed the officers in the Garces Perez shooting would not have met the new standards: one lacked a body camera, another turned his off mid-pursuit.
- How many active ICE officers have not yet completed the required training courses?
- Will the new guidance apply retroactively to ongoing investigations of past vehicle-stop shootings?
- What enforcement mechanism exists if field officers do not follow the memo's requirements?