[Anchor]

In the United States, three more people have died over the past week during operations to crack down on illegal immigrants. As criticism mounts that these deaths are the result of aggressive enforcement driven by daily quotas, authorities have decided to temporarily suspend vehicle stops.

Reporter Kim Yongtae has the story.

[Reporter]

On July 14, local time, a Mexican man died after being struck by a large truck while fleeing from immigration enforcement in Florida.

Just one day earlier, an immigrant from Colombia lost his life in the northeastern state of Maine.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents approached a white sedan that was driving in circles. After colliding with the enforcement vehicle, the car came to a stop, and the driver was pulled out.

The man, 26-year-old Guerrero from Colombia, was killed after being shot five times. He was a father to a 3-year-old daughter.

Human rights groups stated that Guerrero had been residing in the country legally after being issued a Social Security number.

[Catholine Duran / Bereaved Family Member: Guerrero was a man who only went between his home and his workplace. He was devoted to his family.]

Last week, a Mexican national was also killed by an ICE agent during a vehicle stop in Houston, Texas.

Amid criticism that immigration authorities are conducting reckless operations to meet a daily arrest quota of 2,000 people, public outrage—which had already been simmering since the deaths of two Americans in Minnesota earlier this year—is intensifying once again.

[Murad / President of the New York Immigration Coalition: Seeing people lose their lives on the streets in broad daylight in front of their families is chilling for everyone.]

Immigration authorities have taken a step back and decided to temporarily suspend vehicle stops, which carry a high risk of confrontation.

[Angus King / U.S. Senator for Maine: I learned five minutes ago that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has suspended vehicle stops. It is an admission that it is dangerous.]

The authorities also plan to expand the use of body-worn cameras, or body cams, to increase the transparency of enforcement operations.

However, as there is no fundamental change to the policy of strictly cracking down on illegal immigrants, the conflict and controversy are expected to continue.

(Video Editing: Park Chun-bae)