Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, breaks down why ICE vehicle stops are important.

Following a week ofU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) vehicle stops making national headlines, a federal special agent working in deportations revealed why vehicle stops are a “very important” part of the agency’s operations.

After the second ICE officer-involved shooting in a week took place in Maine on Monday, agents nationwide were given guidance to pause vehicle stops until further notice. That guidance, however, was overruled by PresidentDonald Trumpon Wednesday, who called vehicle stops “one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools.”

Though controversial, the agent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said vehicle stops are actually the preferred tactic for many officers, because they are safer for bothlaw enforcementand the subject than home apprehensions, and they allow more time to identify the target than street apprehensions.

Perhaps most notably, while vehicle stops have been widely criticized, the agent explained that they decrease “collateral” arrests, which they said are the apprehension of illegal immigrants who were not the target of the operation but were “at the wrong place at the right time.”

“[Vehicle stops] lead to a higher success rate in apprehending the target that they [ICE officers] are looking for and not getting the collateral. The collateral is the person that we’re not looking for, but we encounter, and they deem them as having no legal presence and/or illegal; therefore, they are going to have an admin arrest done on them.”

ICE agents stand guard in front of protesters outside the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall, where ICE is housing detained immigrants on May 26, 2026, in Newark, New Jersey.(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The agent said vehicle stops are a “daily” part of ICE’s operations. They described the stops as a critical “tool in the toolbox” for federal officers working ondeportation operations.

Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow on border security and immigration at the Heritage Foundation, explained that vehicle stops have become increasingly “crucial” due to growing operational risks.

“When you have to go to someone’s house, we’ve seen how difficult that can be if they don’t want you in. You need warrants, and if you’re breaking down doors, chances of somebody getting hurt are significantly higher,” he said.

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