Fatal ICE shooting in Maine draws scrutiny of enforcement deaths

An ICE agent fatally shot a 26-year-old Colombian man in Biddeford, Maine, during an immigration operation, according to the US Department of Homeland Security. The shooting has drawn new attention to deaths tied to federal immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump’s expanded deportation campaign.

The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente! identified the man as a Colombian national who had authorization to work in the United States. Colombia’s embassy said it was in contact with US authorities and was assisting his family.

What authorities say happened

DHS said agents were watching an address connected to a person who had received a final order of removal from the US. Biddeford is a coastal city about 15 miles southwest of Portland.

According to DHS, agents tried to stop a vehicle leaving the address. The department said the driver attempted to get away and that an officer fired because of a perceived public safety risk.

Senator Angus King of Maine said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the officer fired after the driver allegedly tried to use the vehicle against ICE agents. King also said the agents were not wearing body cameras and that they had gone to Biddeford to arrest someone other than the man who was shot.

Maine’s attorney general said preliminary evidence indicates the driver was trying to flee in the direction of the agent when the shooting took place. The officer has been placed on administrative leave, and the attorney general’s office, the DHS Office of Inspector General and the FBI are investigating.

Why the case has drawn protests

Several hundred people gathered in Biddeford after the shooting, carrying anti-ICE signs and calling for the agency to be abolished, according to Al Jazeera. The protest followed months of criticism from civil rights groups and immigrant advocates over masked federal agents, unmarked vehicles, workplace raids and arrests near immigration courts and public spaces.

Federal immigration operations also drew scrutiny earlier this year in Minneapolis. Al Jazeera reported that two US citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, were killed in January during separate immigration crackdowns, sparking large demonstrations and international condemnation.

After unrest in Minneapolis, senior Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino was reassigned, and daily ICE arrests fell to about 1,057 in February, according to the Deportation Data Project. The New York Times later reported that ICE arrested about 10,000 people over five days at the end of June, while The Associated Press reported that ICE detention rose to roughly 39,000 people during June.

Other deaths tied to enforcement

Al Jazeera reported that the Maine shooting was at least the ninth death linked to federal immigration enforcement since Trump intensified immigration arrests, though not all involved ICE operations.

On July 7, an ICE officer shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, of Houston, after agents in unmarked vehicles pursued him while he drove construction workers to a job site, according to Al Jazeera. Araujo lacked legal permission to live in the US but had applied for residency and had no criminal record, the outlet reported.

Other cases identified by Al Jazeera include Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Mexican line cook shot during a traffic stop near Chicago after dropping a child at daycare; Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old US citizen fatally shot by ICE agents while driving; and Jaime Alanis, a 57-year-old Mexican farmworker who died after falling from a greenhouse roof during raids on Southern California cannabis farms.

Al Jazeera also reported that Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, a 52-year-old Guatemalan man, was killed by an SUV while crossing a Southern California freeway during an immigration operation, and that Josue Castro Rivera, a 24-year-old Honduran man, was killed by a pickup truck while crossing a highway during an immigration traffic stop in Norfolk, Virginia.

Deaths in custody

Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights reported last month that 52 people died in ICE custody during the first 500 days of Trump’s second administration. The groups said the mortality rate in ICE detention had reached its highest level in more than a decade.

The groups said the rate was nearly four times higher than during the Biden administration and more than two-and-a-half times higher than during Trump’s first term. ICE also ended a Biden-era policy requiring notification to Congress and investigations for detainee deaths occurring within 30 days of release, according to Al Jazeera.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.