(The Center Square) – U.S. House Democrats will be holding their second field hearing next week to address fatal shootings committed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-ME, has organized the hearing, “Seeking Justice in Biddeford” to conduct oversight of ICE’s use of force after the July 13 ICE fatal shooting of Colombian national Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, in Biddeford, Maine.
The hearing will be held at 11 a.m. Aug. 17 at Biddeford High School’s Little Theater.
It’s the second congressional field hearing in less than a month after members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, all Democrats, held a hearing in Houston, Texas. The hearing addressed the July 7 ICE fatal shooting of Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston. Less than a week later, another ICE agent shot and killed Guerrero in Biddeford.
In both cases, the men weren’t persons of interest that ICE agents were looking for during targeted enforcement operations, officials said. In both cases, the Department of Homeland Security said in separate statements that both men drove their vehicles toward ICE agents who fired in self-defense, killing them.
In both cases, witnesses and family members dispute the claims made by DHS and ICE, arguing the men didn’t “weaponize” their vehicles and were unarmed. Multiple investigations are ongoing into both shootings. Maine’s bipartisan delegation called for the DHS Inspector General to conduct a comprehensive, transparent and expedited investigation. A state AG investigation is also underway.
At the Houston hearing, Hispanic Caucus Chair U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-NY, said eight people, including two U.S. citizens, have been killed by ICE agents so far during the second Trump administration, The Center Square reported.
Next week, scheduled speakers include Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain, Guerrero family legal representative Ben Gideon, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project executive director Sue Roche and Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition executive director Mufalo Chitam.
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ranking member of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security will co-lead the hearing as he did in Houston. Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and other Democratic members of Congress will also participate, according to an announcement from Pingree’s office.
No Republican members have yet to announce their attendance. However, LaFountain said he hopes that Republican members of Congress will attend “because this is an issue that deserves serious attention and oversight from across the political spectrum,” Maine Morning Star reported. “Federal authority must come with federal accountability, and Congress has an important role to play in providing that oversight when the exercise of federal authority results in the death of a member of our community."
On Tuesday, more than 150 people protested outside of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ Biddeford office, holding “ICE OUT!” signs. The protest was organized by Maine People's Alliance and Center for Popular Democracy, Maine Morning Star reported.
Collins, running for reelection to her sixth term, has recently dropped in the polls. Her challenger, Democrat Troy Jackson, is ahead by 4 points, according to the polling.
House Democrats began holding field hearings after assaults against ICE agents are up 1,300% since the Biden administration. Vehicular attacks against ICE agents are up 3,200%; death threats are up by 8,000%, The Center Square reported.
The hearings are also being held as U.S. citizens continue to raise concerns about ICE agent actions.
In a video posted on social media on Tuesday, a recorded altercation with ICE agents in Virginia appears to show one ICE agent pointing a gun in the face of a U.S. citizen while she’s seated in her car. He and other agents are recorded shouting and swearing and threatening to “lock her up,” according to the video.
U.S. House Democrats posted the video to social media stating, “An ICE agent pointed a gun inches from a U.S. citizen’s face. This agency is dangerously out of control. If ICE is not held accountable, they will kill another innocent person.”
U.S. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-VA, said he’d been in contact with her and “she's a U.S. citizen and lives in my district.”
“How many more videos like this will we need to see, with Americans having guns pulled on them by Trump's untrained ICE agents, before we get real accountability from ICE? I will be demanding answers and consequences,” he said.
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