The victim of a fatal shooting involving a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent showed up at the scene near the car he was driving, and the agent shot out the windshield.
Gregory Reck Portland Press Herald | Getty Images
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday suspended immigration-related vehicle stops after agents shot and killed two men in separate incidents six days apart after stops in Texas and Maine, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.
The change in policy comes a day after ICE agents killed a driver in Biddeford, a town on the Maine coast about 25 miles south of Portland.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a statement about 12 hours after the shooting, claiming that officers “fearing for public safety” fired at the driver as he tried to flee from officers who tried to pull him over.
Officials did not explain how the driver posed the threat.
Although some video footage has emerged showing the aftermath of the incident, no video has yet been released showing the exact moment of the shooting. Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, told reporters the investigators involved were not wearing body cameras and questions about the circumstances of the shooting remained unanswered.
There were multiple protests on Monday, and more demonstrations were planned for Tuesday.
Immigrant advocacy groups said the person shot was a 26-year-old Colombian man who was authorized to work in the United States.
ICE arrests in Maine have more than quadrupled since early June, to about 70 people per day in early July, according to internal ICE data shared with Reuters by officials.
Monday’s killings, combined with last week’s killings in Houston, bring to at least seven people the number of people shot and killed during immigration enforcement operations since January 2025, when President Donald Trump returned to power and launched a mass deportation campaign.
