Some ICE Agents Ordered To Cut Back On Deportation Tactic Targeted By Dems, Sources Say

Federal immigration agents in several areas of the country have been instructed to stop conducting “roving patrols,” where they approach individuals to inquire about their immigration status, multiple Department of Homeland Security sources told The Daily Wire.

In recent days, some Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers making arrests across the country have been told to no longer conduct what are known as “consensual encounters,” where feds initiate a voluntary conversation with an individual to determine if they’re in the country illegally. ICE began employing the tactic as the Trump administration ramped up its mass deportation campaign.

Border Patrol has long used it along the border to catch contraband, illicit goods, or illegal immigrants smuggled into the country.

Ending the tactic is a key demand of congressional Democrats amid ongoing negotiations over funding the Department of Homeland Security. It also comes as President Donald Trump admitted this week that his immigration enforcement efforts may need a “softer touch” following the recent fatal shootings of two anti-ICE activists in Minneapolis.

A formal sweeping policy change on “roving patrols” has yet to come down.

ICE sources gave mixed reviews after receiving the orders.

“Consensual encounters work because we can talk to anyone, and a lot of people that we ‘encountered’ are illegal with criminal records,” one ICE source told The Daily Wire.

“Targeted arrests are the norm for ICE operations. The consensual encounter approach was hard for a lot of officers who don’t have the prior Border Patrol experience and [for] quickly determining alienage. I have no problem doing either,” a second ICE source said.

Another ICE source explained that while “targeted” arrests are “fine,” they only help track down the illegal immigrants officers “know about” since they’re already on their target lists, adding, “What about the ones we don’t [know about]?”

The Daily Wire reached out to DHS for comment and received a statement from a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson, who said “no such order was given,” and that “CBP will continue to enforce the law in Minneapolis, just as they do across the country.”

“Authority under 8 USC [United States Code] 1357 and of course reasonable suspicion are protected by the U.S. Constitution,” the spokesperson added.

However, the question was about ICE, an agency separate from CBP.

DHS later responded to a follow-up question about any orders given to ICE officers, saying that ICE “conducts targeted operations to remove public safety threats from this country — any individual illegally in the country is on the table.”

“There is only one page: the President’s page. Everyone’s on the same page,” the department said.

On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said ending roving patrols was a key demand of Democrats.

“You can’t just pick someone up on the street and put them in a dark prison without any kind of warrant. You can’t bust someone’s door down without any kind of warrant. That’s the Constitution, yet that’s what’s going on despicably on the streets of Minnesota and other places,” Schumer told MSNOW’s Morning Joe.

Among Democrats’ long list of demands is for federal immigration agents to wear body cameras.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced this week that all federal immigration agents in Minneapolis would receive body-worn cameras and that the Trump administration hopes to do the same nationwide, pending funding.

Federal agents drew backlash for conducting “consensual encounters” in Los Angeles when Border Patrol agents showed up at a Home Depot in the City of Angels over the summer. What followed were days of violent protests, where anti-ICE activists blocked highways, set cars ablaze, and hurled concrete blocks at the feds.

A legal battle erupted over the action, which ended with the Supreme Court ruling that ultimately lifted a lower court’s restraining order against the roving patrols in Los Angeles.

(Photo by Madison Thorn/Anadolu via Getty Images)

In Minneapolis, similar changes have been made with the arrival of border czar Tom Homan last week. Trump put Homan at the helm of Minneapolis immigration raids, replacing Border Patrol’s Gregory Bovino, who was known for conducting aggressive “roving patrols.”

Homan directed federal agents operating in the Twin Cities to focus on “targeted” arrests of illegal immigrants with the worst rap sheets. He has also said that the directive doesn’t exempt people whose sole crime is being in the country illegally.