The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has suspended road checks and expanded the use of body cameras for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers following two fatal shootings in one week. During operations, two men were shot dead — 25-year-old Colombian Joan Sebastian Duran Guerrero in Maine and 52-year-old construction worker Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas.

In both cases, officers did not have their body cameras activated. It later emerged that the victims were not connected to the immigration warrants that prompted the operations. The incidents have sparked a broader debate about ICE's tactics and accountability.

Critics link the rise in controversial arrests to pressure from the Donald Trump regime, which allegedly set a target of 2,000 arrests per day for ICE. Under the massive “Catch of the Day” operation, officers conducted mass arrests, drawing accusations of selective enforcement.

According to the UC Berkeley Deportation Data Project, from the start of Trump’s second term through March 2026, the share of detainees in Maine with criminal records dropped from 69% to 45%. Additionally, The New York Times reported that since September, ICE officers have fired their weapons more than 20 times, mostly at vehicles.

Senators Angus King and Susan Collins of Maine stated that ICE should not investigate its own crimes. A group of Latino congressmen has scheduled field hearings in Houston next Friday to gather testimony.

The investigation is further complicated by witness issues. The Mexican consulate has requested humanitarian parole for three detained witnesses of the Texas incident. Meanwhile, the key witness — the victim’s brother, Victor Salgado Araujo — is due in court next week for his own deportation case.

Source: podrobno.uz