Richard Blumenthal on Government Transparency

Richard Blumenthal

Role at the time: U.S. senator for Connecticut

Statement summary

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.”

Richard Blumenthal

Role at the time: U.S. senator from Connecticut and ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, co-hosting a congressional forum

Statement summary

Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Durán Guerrero was murdered. Speaking about fatal shootings by federal immigration agents in general, he also said state and local authorities had been blocked from investigating and that ICE had withheld and concealed evidence.

“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.”

Richard Blumenthal

Role at the time: U.S. Senator (D-Conn.) and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee

Statement summary

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said, as quoted by Roll Call, that "we have a real duty to investigate" what he called blatant corruption dangerous to national security, like the Trump Jr. wedding gift.

“We have a real duty to investigate all of this just absolutely blatant corruption that’s so dangerous to our national security, like the Trump Jr. wedding gift.”

Richard Blumenthal

Role at the time: U.S. senator questioning the homeland security secretary at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

Statement summary

Blumenthal said it was wrong for the agent to shoot Martinez and then brag about the shooting.

“I don't know why you can't join me in saying it was wrong to shoot Marimar, almost cause her death, and then brag about it.”