ICE’s change in tactics leads to the same deadly outcome

Kieran Doyle, ACLED Research Manager US & Canada, said: 

“Public outrage has spiked over two lethal ICE shootings in July. In the space of six days, ICE agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican man, in Houston, Texas, and Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian man, in Biddeford, Maine, both during traffic stops. In each incident, ICE agents claimed that they acted in self-defense and that the men they shot and killed weaponized their vehicles, though both incidents face heavy scrutiny.

“These shootings echo earlier lethal incidents involving immigration enforcement agents, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. At least eight people have been shot and killed by federal agents since the beginning of 2025, according to The Trace’s Gun Violence Data Hub.

“Following the killings in Minneapolis, the Trump administration changed the tactics for its mass deportation agenda. Then-Border Patrol Commander-at-Large  Gregory Bovino and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem were reassigned, and the administration shifted away from the dramatic, facetiously named urban operations it had previously carried out in cities from Los Angeles to Chicago.

“In place of these operations, ICE has taken a less boisterous approach, targeting individuals at check-in meetings with immigration officials, on the street, and at traffic stops, with the administration setting a daily arrest target of 2,000 at the beginning of July. Though ICE’s methods have changed, the results remain deadly: The shootings in Texas and Maine took place amid a surge in detentions.

“Trump’s deportation crackdown remains a major priority of his administration. Though he seeks to arrest and deport as many migrants as possible, he also hopes to avoid the public backlash that high-profile killings inevitably spark. Unfortunately for the president, no matter the approach, the administration’s demand for aggressive daily arrest figures has once again led to deadly shootings carried out by immigration enforcement agents.”