1. United States
2. N.H.
3. Letter

Dear Senator [Shaheen/Hassan]: I am writing as a New Hampshire constituent to ask you to take immediate congressional action following the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero by an ICE officer in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13. I recognize that investigations are still underway and that the complete evidentiary record has not yet been released. But Congress does not need to wait for a final determination of criminal liability before exercising oversight, protecting evidence, and addressing an apparent pattern of dangerous and inadequately controlled federal immigration operations. Several critical facts are already known. Mr. Durán Guerrero was not the person ICE was seeking. According to Senator Angus King’s office, the Department of Homeland Security initially told him that the man who was shot was the subject of an immigration warrant and later corrected that account. Local immigrant-rights organizations report that Mr. Durán Guerrero was authorized to work in the United States and had been issued a Social Security number. The agents involved reportedly were not wearing body cameras. ICE has said only that the vehicle attempted to leave and that an officer, “fearing for public safety,” fired his weapon. That statement does not identify the imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury that ordinarily would be required to justify deadly force. It also does not explain why ICE agents attempted to stop and surround the vehicle of a man who was not the subject of their warrant. I have watched publicly available video of the aftermath. It is devastating. The video appears to show agents pulling Mr. Durán Guerrero’s gravely wounded body from the vehicle and shackling his wrists. A witness reported hearing him say, “I tried to stop.” Other reporting describes multiple shots, bullet holes in the windshield, and agents using an SUV to strike or block his car. The tactics visible in the footage also raise serious training questions. An agent appears to have positioned himself alongside the moving vehicle, with his arms or upper body near the driver’s side. Officers should not create or unnecessarily intensify a dangerous encounter and then rely upon the danger produced by their own tactics to justify deadly force. Mr. Durán Guerrero’s wife and young daughter were reportedly nearby. His family then watched as he lay bleeding and restrained on the ground. Whatever the investigation ultimately concludes about the seconds immediately preceding the gunfire, this was not a controlled or professionally executed operation. The federal government’s response so far compounds the concern. DHS gave Senator King materially incorrect information about whether Mr. Durán Guerrero was the subject of the warrant. ICE’s public statement provides no specific explanation of the danger supposedly presented. The agents had no body-camera footage. These circumstances make independent investigation and congressional oversight indispensable. ICE previously chose to name its Maine enforcement surge “Operation Catch of the Day.” Whether or not this particular action was formally conducted under that operation, describing human beings as a “catch” is dehumanizing. It reflects an institutional culture that appears to regard immigration enforcement as a hunt rather than the exercise of government authority over human beings who possess constitutional rights. I ask you to take the following actions: 1. First, demand an independent civil-rights and use-of-force investigation that is not controlled by ICE or by the officers’ immediate chain of command. 2. Second, require the preservation and eventual public release, consistent with the integrity of the investigation, of all witness video, surveillance footage, radio communications, vehicle data, ballistics evidence, autopsy findings, incident reports, use-of-force reports, and records identifying the officers involved. 3. Third, determine and disclose Mr. Durán Guerrero’s actual immigration status, whether he had pending or current immigration proceedings, and why agents attempted to detain him when he was not the person named in the warrant. 4. Fourth, conduct Senate oversight hearings concerning ICE vehicle stops, firearms training, tactical decision-making, body-camera compliance, after-action medical procedures, and the accuracy of information ICE and DHS provide to Congress and the public. 5. Fifth, condition additional ICE funding on mandatory body cameras, enforceable deadly-force restrictions, independent review of shootings, public reporting requirements, meaningful disciplinary procedures, and documented training in vehicle-interdiction tactics and de-escalation. 6. Finally, demand that ICE’s recently reported suspension of immigration-related vehicle stops remain in effect until the agency can demonstrate that its personnel are properly trained, equipped with body cameras, and operating under rules that protect human life. This is the second fatal ICE vehicle encounter in less than a week involving someone who was reportedly not the intended target of the operation. That is not a circumstance Congress can treat as an isolated tragedy. It indicates an institutional and operational failure requiring immediate intervention. Mr. Durán Guerrero was a person, a husband, a father, and a member of a New England community. He was not a “catch.” Please use your authority as a United States senator to demand the truth, impose accountability, and prevent another family from experiencing this. Please tell me specifically what oversight, investigative, legislative, and appropriations actions you will take.