NPR Adds Details to Immigration Chase Stories
NPR has made significant changes to its article about recent crashes involving immigration agents. The additions provide more specific examples of alleged aggressive driving by immigration officers, including a Guatemalan man who faces vehicular homicide charges after crashing into another car while allegedly fleeing immigration officers in Georgia. The article also mentions a separate incident in Minneapolis, where Christian Molina claims federal immigration agents crashed into his car when he refused to stop for them. These changes matter because they provide concrete examples of the risks associated with aggressive driving tactics by immigration officers, raising concerns about the safety of the general public. The added details also highlight the need for a reevaluation of chase rules for immigration agents, which some experts argue are too lenient. The changes demonstrate a shift in focus from a broader critique of the Trump administration's mass deportation effort to a more specific examination of the tactics used by immigration enforcement agents.
Related Changes
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+ Martin Kaste
Christian Molina says federal immigration agents crashed into his car when he refused to stop for them in Minneapolis in January.
− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop The Best Music of 2025 All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Recent crashes raise questions about chase rules for immigration agents The Trump administration's mass deportation effort has given people more reason to flee immigration officers.
+ Sergio Martínez-Beltrán hide caption
A Guatemalan man faces vehicular homicide charges after he crashed into another car while allegedly fleeing immigration officers near Savannah, Ga.
− ICE and CBP have responded with aggressive driving and risky vehicular pursuits that would be banned for local police.
+ on Feb.
− The result is multiple crashes, and at least one death.
+ 16.
− National Recent crashes raise questions about chase rules for immigration agents February 25, 20264:41 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition Martin Kaste Recent crashes raise questions about chase rules for immigration agents Listen · 5:09 5:09 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5716296/nx-s1-9662746" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript The Trump administration's mass deportation effort has given people more reason to flee immigration officers.
+ Police say Oscar Vasquez Lopez stopped for immigration agents, then drove off, causing them to pursue him.
− ICE and CBP have responded with aggressive driving and risky vehicular pursuits that would be banned for local police. The result is multiple crashes, and at least one death. Sponsor Message
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A Guatemalan man faces vehicular homicide charges after immigration officials say he was racing away from them last week in Georgia. They say he smashed into a car, killing a special education teacher who was on her way to school. It's part of a string of crashes tied to immigration enforcement. And as NPR's Martin Kaste reports, it's raising questions about aggressive driving tactics by federal agents.
+ The crash, soon after, killed special education teacher Linda Davis, who was driving to work.
− MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE: The fatality was in Georgia, but most of the recent crashes have happened - no surprise - in Minnesota.
+ It's the deadliest in a string of recent crashes involving chases or aggressive driving tactics by immigration officers, and it has heightened concerns about risks to the general public.
− Brandon Reader recalls sitting in his car in St. Paul on February 11 and watching a red Prius blow through a stop sign at 80-plus miles an hour, hitting a gray sedan.
+ It comes as the Trump administration's broader crackdown on illegal immigration has alarmed many policing experts about agents' use of force, especially after they shot three people — two of them fatally — during the recent immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota.
− BRANDON READER: He hit that car with enough force that it was struck on the driver's side and spun and did almost a full 180.
+ Ian Adams, who studies policing at the University of South Carolina, says American law enforcement agencies started reining in high-speed pursuits in the late 1980s.
− KASTE: Chasing the Prius was an unmarked car with lights and a siren.
+ "We've actually made a lot of progress here in the last 30 years," he says.
− Federal immigration officers arrested the driver of the Prius. Officials later said he's from Honduras and, quote, "tried to evade law enforcement." Reader says he was amazed that no one got seriously hurt, and as ICE agents gathered at the scene, he asked them this...
+ Most departments now have some form of "pursuit policy," which calls on officers to weigh the risks of a chase against the value of the law enforcement objective.
− READER: Do you guys have any standard operating procedure for pursuit?
+ "Unless stopping that person is important to prevent, like, immediate risk of death or risk of serious injury to someone else, we probably shouldn't be pursuing them," says Adams, who is also a former police officer.
− Because if you do, this seems like it was outside of it.
+ "And that's not a controversial statement within policing.
− And the agent snapped at me and said that I was a [expletive] idiot, and I needed to walk away.
KASTE: But it is a fair question.
+ That is the norm within policing."
Some departments set specific guidelines.
− Pursuit policies have become standard, especially for urban law enforcement.
IAN ADAMS: We've actually made a lot of progress here in the last 30 years.
KASTE: Ian Adams studies policing at the University of South Carolina.
+ For instance, St.
− He says the point of these policies is to weigh the risk of a chase against the purpose.
+ Paul, Minn., police can't chase for anything less than a violent felony, or to stop an imminent, life-threatening danger.
− ADAMS: Unless stopping that person is important to prevent, like, immediate risk of death or serious injury to someone else, we probably shouldn't be pursuing them. And that's not a controversial statement within policing. That is the norm within policing.
+ But the SPPD policy does not apply to federal immigration agents operating in the city.
− KASTE: Many urban police departments set specific guidelines.
+ Brandon Reader witnessed a chase by immigration agents in St.
− St.
+ Paul on February 11.
− Paul police, for instance, are not allowed to give chase for anything less than a violent felony or to stop an imminent life-threatening danger.
+ He says an unmarked car with lights and siren chased a red Prius down the narrow streets of the historic Cathedral Hill neighborhood at "at least" 80 mph.
− But the feds are allowed more discretion. The ICE driving manual tells agents to consider public safety, but it lets them choose whether to chase a suspect. Customs and Border Protection recently got rid of a restrictive pursuit policy adopted under President Biden. The updated policy now tells officers that they're, quote, "responsible for determining when the immediate danger created by emergency driving outweighs the law enforcement benefit," unquote.
+ The Prius ran a stop sign and hit another car.
− KYLE DEKKER: They violate traffic laws at will.
+ "It was struck on the driver's side and spun, and did almost a full one-eighty," Reader says.
− KASTE: Kyle Dekker is one of the activists who've been following federal vehicles around the Twin Cities. He says at one point, one of the immigration agents tried to hit him.
+ Federal officials said the driver of the Prius is from Honduras, and he "tried to evade law enforcement." He was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
− DEKKER: I have dashcams front and rear, where he tried to hit me in the rear panel, my vehicle, to spin me out.
+ Reader says he asked ICE agents at the scene if they had a pursuit policy, because he thought this chase wouldn't be allowed.
− KASTE: Dekker accuses federal agents of trying a PIT maneuver.
+ "The agent stepped forward and snapped at me and said that I was a [expletive] idiot and I needed to walk away," Reader says.
It's a legitimate question.
− That's a tactic for hitting the back end of a fleeing car to make it lose control and stop. PIT maneuvers were banned by the CBP pursuit policy that was approved under Biden, but that ban is no longer visible in the current partially redacted policy. The Department of Homeland Security did not answer NPR's questions about its pursuit policies, but in an email, it called the PIT maneuver a, quote, "specific tactic to diffuse a dangerous pursuit situation."
(SOUNDBITE OF CAR HORN HONKING)
KASTE: In Minneapolis, people report seeing aggressive driving tactics for much less.
+ While federal agencies have also adopted pursuit policies, immigration officers appear to have more discretion than many urban police.
− (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CHRISTIAN MOLINA: (Speaking Spanish).
+ A 2012 ICE "Emergency Driving Handbook" tells agents to consider public safety, but leaves it up to them to "choose" whether to chase a suspect.
− KASTE: For instance, this was Christian Molina in January.
+ Customs and Border Protection, a separate agency which has become a major part of recent enforcement surges in the interior of the country, had adopted a more restrictive pursuit policy in 2023, similar to that of some urban police departments.
− He was showing reporters the crumpled back corner of his car. He said federal agents had crashed into him when he didn't stop for them. He said he's a citizen, so they eventually let him go.
+ At the time, the officers' union, the National Border Patrol Council, criticized the update for making it "almost impossible" for agents and officers to do their jobs.
− (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MOLINA: (Speaking Spanish).
+ In a statement, the Council said "smugglers will be encouraged to drive recklessly" in the knowledge that officers wouldn't chase them.
− KASTE: "They didn't have a reason to stop me, I think, and they're not police," he said.
+ That policy was rescinded soon after President Trump was sworn in last year, a move the union welcomed.
− And to immigration officers, that's part of the problem.
+ A new policy was approved last fall.
− People who don't see them as legitimate police and who feel justified in refusing to stop or, if they fear deportation, in speeding away.
+ It's partially redacted for the public, but appears to place fewer specific restrictions on CBP officers and agents.
− Geoff Alpert says you can see why border police would tend to give chase.
+ It says they are, quote, "responsible for determining when the immediate danger created by emergency driving outweighs the law enforcement benefit."
Some activists who share the road with them say the bar for such "emergency driving" techniques is low.
− GEOFF ALPERT: It's the mission. Their mission is different.
+ "They violate traffic laws at will," says Kyle Dekker, one of the activists who follow and observe immigration agents operating in the Twin Cities.
− KASTE: Alpert is an expert in police pursuits who was hired to update CBP's policy under President Biden.
+ Dekker says he's seen them stop at green lights, then race through intersections on a red as a means of shaking their followers.
− Alpert says he pushed the agency to set a higher bar to limit pursuits to imminent violent crimes, but he said the agency pushed back because along the border, its focus is immigration and smuggling.
+ He also says one of the vehicles he was following came back around and tried to hit his car in what's called a "PIT maneuver."
"I have dash cams [videos], front and rear, where he tried to hit me in the rear panel, my vehicle, to spin me out," he says.
− ALPERT: You can't preclude them from chasing a smuggler if you know that someone has a bunch of drugs in the back of their car.
+ PIT maneuvers were banned by the CBP pursuit policy approved under Biden; that ban is no longer visible in the current, partially redacted policy.
The Department of Homeland Security didn't answer NPR's questions about its pursuit policies, but in an email it called the PIT maneuver a "specific tactic to defuse a dangerous pursuit situation."
It also pointed to reckless driving by "violent agitators." It included a list of "vehicular attacks" against its personnel, with photos of damaged cars.
"The brave men and women of DHS will not be deterred," the email said.
Immigration officers are also reacting to what they see as a growing number of people who refuse to stop for them, such as Christian Molina.
− It's a pretty serious offense.
+ In Minneapolis in January, he showed reporters the damage to his car after immigration agents chased him and crashed into him from behind.
− Now, are you going to chase him downtown Tucson?
+ Molina said he's a U.S.
− No.
+ citizen, and felt justified in ignoring their orders to stop.
"They didn't have a reason to stop me, I think," he said in Spanish.
− But are you going to chase him out in the dirt roads?
+ "They're not police."
While it's true that federal officers don't have the authority to do traffic stops to enforce state laws, most attorneys say you're still obliged to pull over.
− Probably.
+ And border patrol officers, especially, may be more predisposed to chase someone who doesn't stop.
− KASTE: He worries these officers may now be bringing this border mindset to enforcement surges in the rest of the country.
+ "Their mission is different," says Geoff Alpert, one of the most prominent experts on pursuit policies and a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina.
He was hired to help update CBP's policy under President Biden, and he pushed for a rule that would bar pursuits for anything less than imminent violent crimes.
− DHS, in its email response to NPR, pointed to reckless driving by, quote, "violent agitators." It included a list of what it calls vehicular attacks against its officers with photos of damaged cars, and it added, quote, "the brave men and women of DHS will not be deterred."
Martin Kaste, NPR News.
+ But he says the agency pushed back, "educating" him on the fact that along the border, most of CBP's work focuses on immigration and smuggling.
"You can't preclude them from chasing a smuggler.
− Copyright © 2026 NPR.
+ If you know that someone has a bunch of drugs in the back of the car or in their car, it's a pretty serious offense," he says.
− All rights reserved.
+ "Now, are you going to chase him downtown Tucson?
− Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
+ No.
− Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary.
+ But are you going to chase them out on the dirt roads?
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+ Probably."
Alpert says the question now is whether ICE and CBP, as they're deployed to cities away from the borders, will get the right kind of training to know when it's better not to give chase.
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