President Donald Trump says Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should continue traffic stops after recent fatal shootings, including the one in Maine on Monday. Trump wrote on his social media site that ICE is doing a great job and that removing criminals from the country requires being strong, tough, and smart.

Recent Fatal Shootings

The policy change came after an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian driver Monday in Maine and a week after one shot and killed a motorist in Houston, renewing criticism of the agency’s enforcement tactics. At least 10 people have been killed during immigration operations since the start of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, said in a statement that agents were surveilling an address for a person with a final order of removal from the country. When ICE tried to stop a vehicle driven by someone coming from that address, the vehicle attempted to flee the scene, and an officer discharged his weapon, fearing for public safety.

Protests and Investigations

Several hundred demonstrators gathered in Biddeford on Monday night to wave anti-ICE signs and call for the agency to be abolished. The Maine attorney general’s office is investigating the shooting, and the officer who killed the man has been placed on leave. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said the Homeland Security Department’s Office of Inspector General is investigating in cooperation with the FBI.

Original reporting: Dallas TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.