Biddeford killing turns Maine Senate race into immigration clash

Protesters filled Susan Collins’ Biddeford office Monday after a federal immigration agent fatally shot a man near Hill and Pool streets downtown.

Agents were carrying out an enforcement operation tied to a final order of removal when the man tried to flee in a vehicle. Aaron Frey’s office said the vehicle attempted to drive in the direction of the officer before the shooting. Immigrant-rights groups identified the victim as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old originally from Colombia, and said he had authorization to work in the United States and had been issued a Social Security number.

Some protesters entered the entryway chanting, “Vote her out!” Collins called for a “full and impartial investigation” and said Biddeford police had secured the site and the FBI was investigating. Gov. Janet Mills said Maine State Police, the attorney general’s office, the chief medical examiner and federal officials were working to determine what occurred. Angus King said the Department of Homeland Security secretary told him the man had tried to use the vehicle as a weapon against agents and that the ICE officers involved were not wearing body cameras.

Democrats criticized Collins, who already faced criticism for helping provide $70 billion over three years to ICE and Border Patrol after a controversial January enforcement surge into Maine. Opponents linked the Biddeford incident to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Platner suspended his Senate campaign and formally withdrew on July 10, and Maine Democrats are now set to pick a replacement nominee at a July 25 convention in Bangor with 601 delegates.

The Biddeford shooting was the second time in a week that ICE agents had used deadly force and at least the ninth such incident since Trump began his immigration crackdown. Maine Senate President Troy Jackson said, “Our immigrant communities are under attack by ICE, and today we lost a Mainer to that violence.”