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After ICE kills father in Maine, calls for justice grow on the ground and across borders
Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian, was shot and dragged out of his car in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13
Maurizio Guerrero
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Communities across Maine and around the country, along with elected officials and the Colombian president, are demanding justice for the killing of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian murdered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13.
“From the mayors of Portland to Lewiston, to Biddeford, to state legislators, state senators, everyone really has come out against this tragedy and has rapidly and immediately responded on the ground, walking in solidarity with protesters,” Safiya Khalid, the first Somali American city councilmember for Lewiston, Maine’s second-largest city, told Prism.
Khalid, also a co-founder of the local Black and immigrant youth organization Community Organizing Alliance, said she expected local public officials to keep the pressure on demanding justice for the murder of Durán Guerrero. “We want to hold those officers accountable,” she said.
Durán Guerrero’s killing occurred less than a week after ICE agents fatally shot 52-year-old father Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston. On July 14, another man was killed after being hit by a truck while fleeing from ICE agents in St. Augustine, Florida.
Durán Guerrero—initially identified as Joan Sebastian Guerrero by Maine Sen. Angus King’s staff—was shot in the head by ICE agents in his car on his way to work. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), when ICE agents tried to stop Durán Guerrero, “the vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.”
Agents were targeting an individual with a removal order, but DHS reportedly acknowledged that Durán Guerrero was not that person. The nonprofits Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente! Maine said that Durán Guerrero was authorized to work in the U.S. and had a Social Security number.
In a social media post, Durán Guerrero’s wife posted a photo with him and their 3-year-old daughter with the caption, “I have no words for this pain, my love; you are my everything. Watch over me, help me find the strength. I love you, my life; stay with me always—don’t leave me alone, I beg you, my love.”
An online fundraiser has raised almost $400,000 to ease the financial burden on the family.
“What has happened in Maine is the murder of a Colombian, a Latin American, at the hands of the U.S. government,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote on his X account July 14. He said that Durán Guerrero was a “victim of the state” and that he expected “legal” action from Colombia “so the murderers pay for their homicide.”
Elected officials in Maine, including Republican Sen. Susan Collins who was the deciding vote to approve an additional $70 billion in federal funding for ICE last month, are calling for an independent investigation. No video footage clearly captured the exact moment Durán Guerrero was shot. The ICE agents involved in the killing were not wearing body cameras, though Congress approved $20 million for the agency to deploy the devices across its force.
One witness claimed to The Associated Press that after Durán Guerrero was shot and pulled out of his car by agents, he said, “I tried to stop.” Another witness said, “I watched a wife fall to her knees looking at her husband’s dead body on the ground. … I watched a little girl crying with a little pink backpack on because she’s never going to see her father again.”
Durán Guerrero’s killing by federal agents occurred amid an intensified crackdown against immigrants. In the last five days of June, immigration officials arrested more than 10,000 people, doubling the rate of previous weeks, after the White House reportedly directed ICE to increase arrest rates.
Under the Trump administration, federal immigration agents have shot at people in at least 28 interactions, according to data compiled by The Trace, including several incidents of shots fired at people in their vehicles. At least 11 people have been fatally shot by immigration agents in cities across the U.S., among them immigrants, visa holders, and U.S. citizens.
The calls for accountability for the killing of Durán Guerrero echo those for Salgado Araujo, the Mexican national killed by ICE agents during a traffic stop while driving to work with three passengers in Houston. Salgado Araujo, who had lived in the country for more than three decades, was not the intended target of the operation, federal officials acknowledged.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that Mexico plans to file criminal complaints in Salgado Araujo’s case, for two other Mexicans killed by ICE agents, and for 14 Mexican nationals who died in ICE detention. This represents a clear break from the diplomatic approach the Sheinbaum administration pursued in the past.
The two men most recently killed by ICE have also reenergized demands to abolish ICE in Maine, where the local Somali community became the target of heavy immigration enforcement operations in January.
“There are calls for Susan Collins to change her position and get on board with the abolition of ICE,” said Christine Livia, a member of Central Maine Showing Up for Racial Justice, a nonprofit that participated in demonstrations after Durán Guerrero’s killing. “It’s a long shot, but there is a call for her to do that.”
ICE was established in 2003 as the immigration system was overhauled in the wake of 9/11.
Troy Jackson, endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America to replace Democratic candidate Graham Platner after he ended his campaign amid accusations of sexual assault, called to abolish ICE at a protest for Durán Guerrero’s killing. Fellow candidates Nirav Shah and Shenna Bellows have also called to dismantle ICE and to get ICE out of Maine.
Livia said, “I think this tragedy is going to energize people to put pressure on those candidates to adopt a progressive agenda that includes, among other things, the abolition of ICE and getting ICE out of Maine.”
Editorial Team:
Sahar Fatima, Lead Editor
Lara Witt, Top Editor
Rashmee Kumar, Copy Editor
Maurizio Guerrero
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