The fatal shooting incident on Monday involving an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Maine and a Colombian illegal alien has added fuel to the fire for pro-open-borders Democrats on the issue of reforming or abolishing the department.
That shooting and one in Texas last week, which resulted in the death of a Mexican national, led to the Tuesday announcement of a "temporary pause" in vehicle stops outside of those involving suspects who had serious criminal allegations against them.
As RedState reported, however, that temporary pause truly was temporary, with President Trump logging on to Truth Social Wednesday morning and insisting that vehicle stops must resume.
"We CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!" Trump wrote. "The Radical Left Dumocrats would like to see this done, but it won’t happen on my watch. I.C.E., be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job."
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Amid increasing criticism from the Usual Suspects over how they do their jobs, not to mention the near-constant presence of radical leftist agitators at ICE detention centers in blue cities across the country, ICE has remained focused and has not backed off the mission of keeping American cities and streets safe from criminal illegal aliens.
To prove the point, the Harlingen, Texas field office shared details this week on the record-setting day for arrests they had on June 18th - and the records some of them had were pretty extensive and violent (bolded emphasis theirs):
ICE, in partnership with federal, state and local law enforcement officials, arrested 238 illegal aliens, achieving the highest single-day targeted arrests for the Enforcement and Removal Operations Harlingen field office area of operations June 18. The operation, aimed at increasing public safety by arresting and removing criminal illegal aliens from our communities, demonstrates a continued commitment to upholding ICE’s mission of keeping the American people safe.
Among those arrested were criminal illegal aliens with convictions for attempted kidnapping, sexual battery and drug possession. The team also arrested an alleged Paisas gang member with arrests and convictions for assault causing bodily injury, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, driving while intoxicated and illegal reentry. These illegal aliens could face additional criminal charges for illegal re-entry into the United States. Under Secretary Mullin, ICE is focused on delivering the president’s mandate to the American people to identify, arrest and remove illegal aliens from American communities, especially those with criminal records.
NEW: ICE announces that its Rio Grande Valley field office in Harlingen, TX recently made a record setting 238 arrests of illegal in a single day, the highest daily total ever recorded for the office. Targets arrested included aliens with rap sheets for kidnapping, sex crimes,… pic.twitter.com/uETx2yjhdN
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 16, 2026
Relatedly, it was revealed in early July that during a five-day stretch in late June, ICE made a staggering 10,000 arrests:
Federal immigration officials have detained more than 10,000 people in the last five days, a major surge that has stemmed from a push within Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase arrest rates.
Agency leaders in recent days ordered top ICE officials to focus more of their officers’ efforts on picking up immigrants they want to deport, according to documents obtained by The New York Times and interviews with federal officials. ICE officers have arrested people at check-ins with immigration authorities, during traffic stops and on the street. The push has apparently yielded results, with recent arrest numbers roughly doubling from the 1,000 picked up each day earlier this year.
The NY Times, which first reported the numbers, also noted that "the surge has occurred without the fanfare of highly visible operations last year," and that DHS Secretary "Markwayne Mullin... pledged to mount a quieter enforcement campaign following the chaos of a monthlong operation in Minnesota..."
To find out more information on the Harlington arrests, please click here.
Editor’s Note: Democrat politicians and their radical supporters will do everything they can to interfere with and threaten ICE agents enforcing our immigration laws.
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