President Donald Trump on Wednesday said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “CANNOT give up” traffic stops, undercutting a reported new directive from the agency to pause most vehicle stops following a string of deaths.

“The men and women of ICE are doing a GREAT job, one that has to be done,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, defending the agency.

Trump added that for the agency to continue to its work, “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!”

Trump claimed that pausing vehicle stops would reward Democrats, adding that he will not allow this to happen.

“Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands. 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,” he added.

Trump’s statement comes after ICE agents killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas and Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine, prompting outrage.

A growing memorial at the site where Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was fatally shot by ICE agents last week is seen Monday in Houston.

AP Photo/Karen Warren

Araujo was fatally shot during a vehicle stop in Houston while he was on his way to work, with the Department of Homeland Security alleging he tried to run over an officer. The claim was disputed by witnesses who were with Araujo in the van at the time of the shooting.

Just days later, in Biddeford, Maine, an ICE agent fatally shot Guerrero during an attempted traffic stop, according to DHS, which claimed “the vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.”

A makeshift memorial is seen a day after a man was fatally shot by ICE officers in Biddeford, Maine. The victim has been identified as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old man from Colombia.

Ryan Murphy via Getty Images

Meanwhile, a man fleeing immigration officers in Florida was struck and killed by a tractor trailer on Tuesday, authorities said, marking the third ICE-related death in just one week and, according to The Associated Press, at least the 10th death involving encounters with immigration agents since Trump started his mass deportation campaign.

The three deaths have renewed scrutiny on ICE, which has already been under the microscope following the killings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good in Minneapolis earlier this year.