On Monday, a US immigration officer fatally shot a 26-year-old Colombian man, identified by rights advocates, marking the second incident of this nature involving federal agents within a week.
The shooting occurred in Biddeford, Maine, a town with a population of 22,000, intensifying scrutiny of President Donald Trump’s deportation policies and the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The victim was named by US media as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, who reportedly worked as a delivery driver and resided in Biddeford with his wife and their three-year-old daughter.
An ICE spokesperson indicated that officers attempted to stop a vehicle around 7:00 AM (1100 GMT) after surveilling the last known address of an individual with a deportation order.
According to the spokesperson, a vehicle “attempted to flee, and fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon. The driver was struck and emergency services were contacted immediately. He succumbed to his injuries,” they stated.
Initially, Senator Angus King of Maine suggested that, based on a discussion with Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, the victim was subject to an ICE arrest warrant related to his immigration status.
However, a subsequent statement from King’s spokesperson clarified that the victim was not the intended target of the warrant.
“The individual who was killed was not the person they were seeking,” King told CNN.
King called for a “full, transparent, and open investigation,” while noting that the agents involved apparently did not have body cameras to document the incident.
ICE announced that the involved agent would be placed on administrative leave following protocol for police-involved shootings. The FBI has stated it is conducting its own investigation.
The Colombian embassy expressed its desire for clarification from the Department of Homeland Security regarding the death of a Colombian national.
This incident follows another last week in Texas, where a Mexican man was shot dead by an ICE agent during a vehicle stop attempt.
– ‘I tried to stop’ –
Witness Daniel Boucher, 71, recounted hearing a series of gunshots before witnessing ICE agents pull an individual from a white vehicle, bloodied.
“At that moment, I distinctly heard the victim say ‘I tried to stop,’ or something similar,” he recounted.
“Then he was on the ground. I could only see his legs and abdomen, and ultimately, I noticed his movements ceased, indicating he had passed away.”
Boucher claimed that when he approached one of the agents on the scene, the agent attempted to run him over.
The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente Maine, which announced the victim’s identity without naming him, stated that he possessed authorization to work in the US.
“We will not allow this death to be reduced to a mere statistic within this administration’s enforcement records,” declared Crystal Cron, executive director of Presente Maine.
Governor Janet Mills expressed her horror at the tragedy.
The revelation that the victim was not the intended target of the ICE operation “highlights the reckless and indiscriminate nature of immigration enforcement actions in Maine and nationwide,” she wrote on X.
Images from the scene depicted a police cordon on a residential street, with forensics units near a red tent. Nearby, individuals placed candles and flowers in memory of the victim.
Protesters gathered in the vicinity, brandishing signs that read “ICE Out!” and assembled at the office of Maine’s other senator, Susan Collins, a member of Trump’s Republican party.
“A life has been lost, and their family, along with our community, deserves clear answers about what transpired,” stated Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain.
As part of Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts, ICE agents have encountered nationwide criticism for their aggressive tactics, including the shooting deaths of two US citizens in Minneapolis this year.
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