Blumenthal co-signs letter citing Durán Guerrero's death as showing inadequate ICE use-of-force training
Richard BlumenthalU.S. senator for Connecticut
Richard Blumenthal, Cory Booker and Alex Padilla wrote to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin on October 5, 2026, asking DHS to suspend field duties for ICE officers hired in the 2025 surge until background checks and training are complete. The letter states that agents rammed Durán Guerrero's vehicle and fired through it in Biddeford, and that such killings show surge hires did not receive adequate instruction in use-of-force standards.
“On July 13, 2026, an ICE officer in Biddeford, Maine fatally shot Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old father, in his car after agents rammed his vehicle and fired multiple rounds through it while executing a warrant for someone else. Mr. Durán Guerrero was not the target of the operation and was authorized to work in the United States. ... These killings, combined with the whistleblower's account of corners cut on both vetting and training, make clear that officers hired during the surge did not receive adequate instruction in de-escalation, use-of-force standards, and vehicle-stop protocols before being sent into communities with the authority to use deadly force.”
Official statement
Official statement
Where this statement fits
Was the ICE officer justified in fatally shooting Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero?
On July 13, 2026, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero during an attempted vehicle stop at Pool and Hill streets in Biddeford, Maine. ICE said Guerrero's vehicle attempted to flee and that the officer fired because he feared for public safety; Maine's initial account said the vehicle moved in the officer's direction. A nearby resident said he heard Guerrero say he had tried to stop and heard the officer say Guerrero tried to hit him. Security cameras recorded gunfire and portions of the aftermath but do not continuously show the vehicle's path at the moment of firing, and the agents reportedly lacked activated body cameras. The Associated Press and relatives identified the shooter as David Brouillette, though DHS has not confirmed his identity. In late September 2026, the Maine attorney general's office declined to comment on its investigation and had announced no finding. The dispute is whether Guerrero's vehicle posed an imminent threat when the officer fired.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Booker's office describes a letter from Senators Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal and Alex Padilla to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. The letter cites both killings among other incidents and calls for renewed vetting and training of officers hired during the 2025 surge. The release gives a date but no time.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Official statement
About this source
The signed four-page letter that Booker's release (source 5521) announces. It describes the July 13 Biddeford and July 7 Houston killings and asks DHS to suspend field enforcement duties for 2025 surge hires until background checks and training are complete, with a written reply by October 13.
Before the quotation
The letter cites a September 2026 New York Times report on a whistleblower complaint about ICE background checks and a report that nearly 7,500 surge hires still await full background investigations.
After the quotation
The letter asks DHS to account for use-of-force and vehicle-stop policy changes since January 2026 and to reply in writing by October 13, 2026.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case asks whether the ICE officer was justified in shooting Durán Guerrero. The letter Blumenthal signed says agents rammed Durán Guerrero's vehicle and fired through it while he was not the operation's target, and says such killings show surge hires lacked adequate use-of-force instruction. That criticizes the use of deadly force, so we labeled it Condemned. Mixed or conditional is the closest competing label; it loses because the letter sets no condition on that criticism.
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More from this case
Read the full casePingree criticizes body-camera failures after Duran Guerrero's killing
“Our demands are simple: Every immigration enforcement officer must have a working body camera, must be properly trained on how to use it, and be held accountable when that camera isn’t used.”Read statement
Richard Blumenthal says Durán Guerrero was murdered
“State and local authorities have been stymied and stopped in their effort to investigate. ICE has withheld and concealed evidence. The failure to investigate is obvious and deeply wrong and shameful for the federal government. On July 7, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a father and husband, was shot and killed by ICE agents while on his way to work in Houston. And just five days later, Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero was murdered in Maine, leaving behind a wife and three-year-old daughter.”Read statement
Karolina Rojas Alvarez says her family wants justice
“No immigrant should be murdered in this way. On behalf of my husband's family, my daughter and myself we want justice.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Blumenthal co-signs letter citing Durán Guerrero's death as showing inadequate ICE use-of-force training". First published: 2026-10-06. Last updated: 2026-10-06. https://disputeindex.com/events/4963-richard-blumenthal-cory-booker-and-alex-padilla-wrote