Gov. Janet Mills on Monday evening reacted strongly to new reporting that the victim of a fatal shooting in Biddeford on Monday morning by a federal immigration agent was not the target of enforcement action.
“This development makes this tragedy even more disturbing and infuriating, and it underscores the reckless and haphazard manner in which immigration enforcement operations are being conducted in Maine and across the country. This has to end.” the Democratic governor said in a post on X.
Officials have not officially identified the victim of the 7:17 a.m. shooting. A neighbor told the Portland Press Herald the man was Joan Sebastian Guerrero, 26, originally from Colombia, a description that matches a joint statement from immigrant-rights groups who said Guerrero had work authorization and a Social Security number.
A witness who filmed from her Pool Street porch said agents rammed the passenger side of Guerrero’s sedan with an SUV, surrounded it with weapons drawn and ordered the driver out. When the driver appeared to try to flee toward an officer, at least one agent opened fire, she said, an account matching a statement from Attorney General Aaron Frey’s office that said the driver was attempting to flee.
Mills has previously opposed the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement and called on Congress to cut funding for the agency, which she accused of “instilling fear and anxiety” across Maine during a surge in January.
BDN writer Benjamin Kail contributed reporting.
