Richard Blumenthal
Role at the time: U.S. senator for Connecticut
Condemned
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.”