ICE agents’ lethal actions in Texas and Maine raise questions over use-of-force rules

ICE operations in early July resulted in the deaths of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Texas, and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine. DHS officials assert that agents receive extensive de-escalation and use-of-force training and that the shootings occurred because the migrants allegedly tried to ram officials, yet three van passengers in Houston and local witnesses in Maine refute any such danger. The identities of the agents involved have not been disclosed, and no body-camera or in-car video has been made public despite DHS promises to equip field offices with such devices.

Federal and state investigations are under way, with the FBI probing a possible assault on officials in the Texas case and Harris County prosecutors considering legal action to obtain evidence. Governor Janet Mills condemned the “reckless and haphazard” nature of the operations, and the victims' families are demanding independent inquiries. These incidents expose a gap between ICE’s stated policies—requiring reasonable, necessary force and prioritizing de-escalation—and the outcomes on the ground.