Washington DC - Immigration and Customs Enforcement has halted most vehicle stops after two civilians were fatally shot in Maine and Texas.

According to CBS News, the Department of Homeland Security instructed the agency's Enforcement and Removal Operations division to cease stops nationwide, except in cases involving serious criminal targets.

The order notably does not affect ICE's Homeland Security Investigations, which handles criminal probes.

The move comes after agents in Texas fatally shot Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston on June 7, and agents in Maine fatally shot a Colombian man named Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Biddeford on June 13.

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Both men were killed during traffic stops.

On Tuesday, Maine Senator Susan Collins said in an X post that the shootings raise "critical questions" and that she urged DHS Secretary Mark Mullin to "cease all non-urgent vehicle stops."

In both incidents – and many before it – ICE has faced heavy criticism for using aggressive tactics and sharing accounts of the events that conflicted with camera evidence and witness testimony.

With Araujo in Houston, it was later revealed that agents were looking for a different person when they stopped and ultimately killed him. In Biddeford, ICE claimed Guerrero attempted to flee by using his vehicle as a weapon, though that story is similarly under dispute.

Sources told CBS News that the directive is temporary so that ERO agents can receive additional training on vehicle-stop tactics.