Trump comes to defense of ICE agents after enforcement surge led to three deaths in past week

The administration is caught between delivering on a campaign promise and the deadly consequences of its enforcement operations.

By Isaac Arnsdorf and Ted Hesson

President Donald Trump came to the defense of immigration agents whose enforcement surge led to three deaths in the past week, countermanding Tuesday’s suspension of traffic stops that was imposed to contain the damage.

The latest reversal underscored the White House’s bind between delivering on a core campaign promise for mass deportations and the deadly consequences of its enforcement operations, repeating a cycle of escalating arrests and recoiling from the political fallout.

“The men and women of ICE are doing a GREAT job, one that has to be done,” Trump said of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in a social media post on Wednesday morning. “We CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!”