President Donald Trump, flanked by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, speaks with workers who have been painting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC, on May 7, 2026. —Kent Nishimura—AFP via Getty Images)In a stunning reversal, President Donald Trump on Wednesday overturned a policy decision by the Department of Homeland Security that ordered most Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to stop conducting traffic stops in light of deadly shootings in Maine and Texas. The decision, confirmed by a White House official, came roughly 24 hours after ICE agents had been informed of the pause on vehicle stops, and soon after Trump had praised the traffic stops as one of ICE agents’ “most important and effective Crime Fighting tools” in a social media post.“I.C.E., be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job. Keep those Crime Stat Records coming!” Trump added. Shortly after the White House’s decision, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin reposted Trump’s Truth Social post, while adding that getting criminals off the street remains ICE’s top priority. The DHS decision to halt traffic stops was intended to apply specifically to agents under Enforcement and Removal Operations, the branch of ICE that detains and ultimately deports undocumented immigrants. An internal email obtained by TIME also shows that exceptions would be made when agents need to execute a criminal warrant on a target who is inside of a vehicle. The policy guidance initially came after Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine publicly urged Mullin to pause all “non-violent traffic stops” in the wake of a shooting in Biddeford, Maine that involved ICE agents. That episode had resulted in the death of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national who was not the target of a warrant. The investigation into the shooting is still ongoing. TIME has reached out to Collin’s office for comment.