Politics
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The deadly Monday shooting involving federal agents has become a flashpoint in Maine’s pivotal U.S. Senate race, with Democrats pressing for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be abolished and Republican Sen. Susan Collins accusing them of politicizing a tragedy.
The shooting left Colombia native Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, 26, dead, marking the second ICE-involved fatal shooting across the country in the past two weeks and at least the 11th since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.
The incident and its immediate aftermath — including a video that showed agents pulling the victim’s limp body from a car — sparked protests in Biddeford, including at Collins’ office there. Guerrero was not the target of the ICE warrant, and the incident raises questions about the level of force and the lack of body camera footage.
The seven Democrats looking to oust Collins seized on the shooting, pointing to her vote to advance almost $70 billion in ICE and Border Patrol funding. Collins, seeking a sixth term and facing critics who say she’s enabled Trump’s agenda, worked with other members of the federal delegation to get more answers out of Homeland Security’s inspector general.
She also said she spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, urging him to cease “all non-urgent vehicle stops” by ICE. The agency, which said in a statement it would not discuss tactics, reportedly put a temporary hold on such stops by Tuesday afternoon.
“Along with our constituents, we are deeply saddened by this loss of life,” Collins wrote in a letter alongside the rest of the congressional delegation. “The facts surrounding this tragedy remain a matter of significant local concern and necessitate thorough, objective accounting.”
The lawmakers asked for a timeline of events, an evaluation on tactics and the use of force, and clarification on audio, body-worn cameras and evidence preservation. Collins in a separate statement said it’s clear ICE “needs to improve its performance.”
But the Democrats running in an unprecedented caucus-and-convention system to replace Graham Platner as the nominee in the pivotal race against Collins said the senator’s actions helped open the door for immigration enforcement that’s left legal residents and U.S. citizens dead in several states, now including Maine.
The criticism comes as each contender scrambles to recruit delegates for a July 25 nominating convention, where Platner’s progressive support will be crucial. Along with abortion, judicial confirmations and economic policy, ICE’s tactics are sure to remain a focal point as Democrats make the case against Collins before November.
“There is a straight line from Sen. Collins to the lawlessness we saw yesterday,” Nirav Shah, the state’s former public health chief, said Tuesday. “She confirmed ICE’s leaders, she funded its abuses, and she chairs the one committee in Washington with the power to put conditions on every dollar the agency gets.”
Former state Senate President Troy Jackson similarly highlighted Collins’ vote for ICE funding last month, saying he would abolish the agency. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows argued she’s the only candidate in the Senate race who’s already taken on Trump and ICE by blocking the agency from getting undercover license plates.
Maine Beer Co. co-founder Dan Kleban said the agency is fundamentally corrupt and broken. He said the country needs immigration enforcement and border security, but that Trump had abused ICE and “made it rotten beyond all redemption” with help from Collins.
Former Maine and Maryland government official David Costello said the agency has been expanded for Trump’s political agenda, not security or public safety. He called for ICE to be dismantled and reconstituted only if part “of a larger, comprehensive immigration reform package.”
Social worker Paige Loud said a neighbor in Biddeford was “murdered” by ICE Monday. She said agents should be prosecuted, something Jackson in a May gubernatorial debate called for when agents violate constitutional rights. Loud, former political aide Jordan Wood and former state Rep. Elizabeth Dickerson confirmed Tuesday they believe ICE should be abolished.
“Why are they even here?” Dickerson said in an interview.
Collins’ team disputed the Democrats’ claims and accused them of politicizing the shooting.
“It’s unfortunate that Democrats who are desperate to be appointed to run for the Senate are using a tragedy to further their political aspirations,” Blake Kernen, a spokesperson for the senator, said. “Anyone calling for abolishing ICE is calling for the agency to cease critical efforts to combat human trafficking, child exploitation, forced labor and international drug smuggling.”
Kernen said Collins negotiated new protections in the DHS funding process that became law in April, including $20 million for expanded use of body-worn cameras, $2 million for de-escalation training and an increase in the Inspector General’s budget to investigate such incidents.
Shah and others noted the ICE and CBP funding that passed in June came without reforms that Democrats pushed for, including requirements for judicial warrants to enter homes, a ban on masked agents, and restrictions on where arrests can occur.
Independent Sen. Angus King was initially told by DHS that Guerrero was the target of the ICE warrant Monday. Mullin later informed him that was not the case. The Washington delegation urged DHS to prioritize the investigation, “given the gravity of the situation and the understandable anxiety within the Biddeford community.”
“Timely and factual answers will be critical to providing closure for the grieving community and ensuring that federal law enforcement operations are conducted safely, lawfully and in a manner that respects public safety,” they wrote.