Lawmakers demand answers on ICE vetting after Maine shooting

Democratic lawmakers demanded answers on ICE vetting and firearms training after disclosure that the officer who shot and killed 26-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, had a history of serious mental health problems and violent behavior. The case put a spotlight on David Brouillette, an Army veteran whose family and records indicate he struggled with those issues since early childhood.

U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Alex Padilla asked Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection for information on hiring standards and training protocols for newly hired ICE agents. In Maine, Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King joined Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden in calling for a comprehensive, transparent and expedited investigation, arguing that the public needs to trust the process as officials examine how a federal officer came to use deadly force.

The shooting landed during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, when ICE has been hiring thousands of new officers. That rapid expansion has intensified scrutiny over whether the agency and DHS are screening recruits carefully before giving them badges and firearms, and whether training is keeping pace with the pace of hiring. Coverage also said ICE temporarily suspended most vehicle stops after the killing, a sign of how quickly the incident rippled through the agency’s enforcement operations.

The Maine case also revived broader concerns about force inside ICE. Some reporting described the shooting as the second ICE deadly shooting in a week, and some outlets said it was at least the ninth death since Trump began his immigration crackdown. Earlier this year, reporting said some new ICE recruits showed up to training without full vetting, including people with criminal backgrounds, failed drug tests or an inability to meet physical or academic standards, deepening questions about hiring controls and frontline accountability.

Maine officials have added to the pressure. Gov. Janet Mills urged Congress to reform and rein in ICE after the shooting, while state Rep. Sophie Warren called the agency “absolutely out of control” at a protest rally and urged it to leave the state. In Biddeford, mourners gathered near the scene with flowers and candles, underscoring how a single use-of-force episode has turned into a wider test of DHS oversight.

The scrutiny now reaches beyond one shooting. DHS issued a department-wide use-of-force memo on Sept. 7, 2018, and later defended ICE law-enforcement training in a February 2026 post, but lawmakers are asking whether those standards are being applied consistently as the agency expands. An ACLU report later argued that ICE had increasingly used force as a “default tool” during the first year of Trump’s return to office, a charge that now hangs over the investigation in Maine.