WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he doesn’t want to see the end of vehicle stops conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after they were halted by the agency Tuesday in response to multiple fatal officer-involved shootings.

The Department of Homeland Security shifted a key part of its immigration policy after ICE officers shot and killed two immigrant drivers in Texas and Maine within one week. The administration has since faced intense backlash from Democrats, many of whom are calling for abolishing ICE.

Trump argued a prolonged halt to ICE vehicle stops will only benefit criminals and embolden Democrats.

“We must be strong, tough, and smart, and we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!” the president wrote on Truth Social.

“Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands,” he said. “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. Keep those Crime Stat Records coming! Remember, you are loved and respected in America.”

The temporary pause for traffic stops took effect on Tuesday.

ICE’s enforcement tactics are coming under renewed criticism after three people died during encounters with federal officers within a week. In Florida, a 28-year-old man was killed Tuesday after he was hit by a tractor trailer while running from immigration and other federal officers, authorities said.

Last week, a Mexican man in Houston was killed when he allegedly attempted to run over an ICE officer who fired shots in self-defense.

A similar incident unfolded in Maine on Monday, when officers shot and killed a Colombian national they said was weaponizing his vehicle in an attempt to flee the scene.

There have been at least 10 deaths involving encounters with immigration agents since Trump launched his deportation campaign. At least four of them involved people in vehicles, a trend so troubling that Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine urged Department of Homeland Security leaders “to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops.”

Two shootings in a week, she said Wednesday, “raise very serious questions” and warrant a halt in that approach for the time being.

Democrats have called for transparent and independent investigations into both incidents. The Trump administration is conducting its own investigations into the fatal shootings.

In Maine, several Democratic candidates seeking to replace Graham Platner, the former Democratic nominee for the highly contested Maine Senate race, lashed out at ICE over the recent deaths.

Former Maine state Sen. Troy Jackson advocated for dismantling the federal immigration agency and challenged Collins’s vote to allocate $70 billion toward immigration enforcement earlier this year. He pointed to the Minnesota ICE operation, which killed U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti — both of whom have ties to Colorado — as a reason for why lawmakers should rein in ICE.

As ICE received the order to pause vehicle stops for now, a Mexican citizen died trying to flee immigration officers in Florida on Tuesday after he got hit by a tractor-trailer. This marked the third death in roughly a week involving ICE personnel.