Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been directed to halt most traffic stops and plan to expand body camera use after federal agents fatally shot two people within one week, a scramble that followed deadly enforcement operations in Maine and Texas and renewed calls for independent investigations.
Who Paid First
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston and Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, were both killed during federal immigration enforcement operations, but neither man was the target of those operations, sources have confirmed. That detail sits at the center of the wreckage. Men going to work. Federal agents closing in. Then gunfire, followed by the usual institutional language about safety, procedure, and control.
Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old from Colombia, was killed Monday morning in Biddeford, Maine, the state’s sixth-largest city, situated on the Atlantic Coast. He was authorized to work in the US and had been issued a Social Security number, according to the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition. Surveillance footage obtained by The Associated Press appears to show a white sedan, believed to be Durán Guerrero on his way to work, driving in circles near an intersection before an unmarked vehicle blocks its path. Daniel Boucher, who lives near the scene, told CNN he looked outside after hearing gunshots and saw federal agents pull Durán Guerrero’s body from the sedan, which is also captured in the surveillance video.
The Department of Homeland Security said the ICE officer opened fire after “fearing for public safety” as Durán Guerrero “attempted to flee the scene” in his vehicle. DHS has not provided details on why the officer believed Durán Guerrero posed a threat. The officer involved in the shooting “has nearly a decade of federal law enforcement experience with required training,” ICE said. Durán Guerrero’s neighbor said the young man, who was headed to work when the shooting happened, lived with his partner and their 3-year-old daughter. “He was a good person,” his neighbor told CNN.
The Houston Stop That Turned Deadly
Salgado Araujo, 52, was driving to work with three other construction crew members when unmarked vehicles carrying federal agents began following his van, his family said. DHS said Salgado Araujo rammed into a law enforcement vehicle and refused to follow several verbal commands before an ICE agent fired his weapon in self-defense. The agency said he attempted to evade arrest during the “targeted operation,” though a source with preliminary details about the incident said he was not the target of the enforcement action.
Two men who were with Salgado Araujo disputed the government’s account, saying the agents’ vehicles bumped into them and then swayed into the van, forcing them to stop. The agents never identified themselves, the men told attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra and Rep. Sylvia Garcia. Salgado Araujo’s brother, Victor, who was in the van when the shooting happened, told Texas immigration attorney Ruby Powers that during the incident, an unidentified person approached the passenger side window, said, “Stop,” and immediately fired a weapon, striking Salgado Araujo.
The three other men who were with Salgado Araujo at the time of the shooting were detained. The Mexican consulate said ICE granted permission for Victor Salgado to attend his brother’s funeral Thursday. Balderas-Ibarra said he was able to secure U Visa certifications for all three men that will prevent them from being deported. Even in grief, the machinery keeps moving. Detention, paperwork, deportation threats. The state doesn’t stop at the gunshot.
Investigations, or Damage Control
In Maine, local officials have asked for a full and impartial probe. The Maine Attorney General is investigating the shooting alongside local and federal authorities. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Sen. Susan Collins of Maine that the agency’s Office of Inspector General’s Boston field office has since taken over the investigation.
In Houston, the DHS’ Office of Inspector General is now leading an investigation into the shooting, according to ICE. The FBI’s Houston field office is investigating the alleged assault on a federal law enforcement officer. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare’s office has also launched its own investigation into the killing of Salgado Araujo. The Houston Police Department has asked the Texas Department of Public Safety to conduct an investigation, saying doing so “will ensure it is independent and transparent.” Teare said Monday that his office has issued nearly 20 subpoenas for evidence and witness testimony and that federal officials are not sharing evidence with investigators.
That last detail says plenty. Nearly 20 subpoenas. Evidence and testimony. Federal officials withholding material from investigators. The apparatus that shot first now gets to decide how much of the record anyone else can see.
Amid the other deaths, Homeland Security Investigations, part of ICE, and the Florida Highway Patrol are also investigating an incident from Tuesday morning where a Mexican national fleeing from federal agents in St. Augustine was struck and killed by a tractor trailer.
President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has characterized the change in traffic stops as a “short pause” rather than a broader administration policy change. A pause. A tweak. A managerial word for a system that keeps grinding people up until the pressure gets too loud to ignore.