ICE kills 26-year-old in Maine: What happened, and who else has ICE killed?

The fatal shooting of a 26-year-old Colombian antheral by a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cause successful Maine has go the latest flashpoint successful President Donald Trump’s assertive crackdown connected overseas nationals.

Human rights groups identified the antheral killed successful Biddeford connected Monday arsenic a Colombian nationalist authorised to enactment successful the US. Colombia’s embassy said it was successful interaction with American authorities and was providing consular assistance to his family.

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The shooting comes amid a crisp summation successful migration arrests, renewed protests and mounting interest implicit the increasing fig of radical killed during ICE raids and different enforcement operations. Scrutiny is besides increasing implicit the rising decease toll wrong migration detention facilities.

Here’s what we know.

What happened successful Maine?

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, said agents were conducting surveillance astatine an code linked to idiosyncratic who had received a last bid of removal from the country.

The incidental unfolded successful Biddeford, a coastal metropolis astir 24km (15 miles) southwest of Portland, the state’s biggest city.

According to DHS, agents attempted to halt a conveyance leaving the address. The section said the operator tried to fly and that “fearing for nationalist safety, an serviceman discharged his weapon”.

Earlier, Maine Senator Angus King said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had told him the serviceman fired aft the operator allegedly attempted to usage the conveyance arsenic a limb against ICE agents.

King besides said the agents progressive were not wearing assemblage cameras and that they had been successful Biddeford to apprehension idiosyncratic different than the antheral who was shot.

The little DHS connection did not notation a limb oregon whether the idiosyncratic killed was the idiosyncratic agents had primitively sought to arrest.

The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and advocacy radical Presente! said the antheral who was killed had authorisation to enactment successful the US.

Meanwhile, Maine’s lawyer general, whose bureau is conducting a abstracted probe into the incident, said preliminary grounds suggests the operator was attempting to fly successful the absorption of the cause erstwhile the shooting occurred. The serviceman progressive has been placed connected administrative leave.

The DHS Office of Inspector General is besides investigating alongside the FBI.

Al Jazeera has contacted DHS seeking clarification astir the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Why are ICE controversial?

ICE, the largest national instrumentality enforcement bureau wrong DHS, has agelong been liable for enforcing migration laws and carrying retired deportations.

But since Trump returned to office, the medication has taken connected a acold much disposable and assertive relation successful its methods utilized to deport overseas nationals.

Civil rights groups and migrant advocates person condemned operations involving masked national agents, unmarked vehicles, ample workplace raids and arrests extracurricular migration courts and nationalist spaces. Critics accidental the tactics dispersed fearfulness passim migrant communities.

It comes arsenic tensions escalated earlier this twelvemonth successful Minneapolis, wherever residents described the metropolis arsenic being “under siege”, arsenic national migration agents intensified operations that began past December.

The crackdown led to nationwide attraction aft 2 US citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, were killed successful January during abstracted migration crackdowns, triggering ample demonstrations and wide planetary condemnation.

Gregory Bovino, the elder Border Patrol authoritative who led the national cognition successful Minneapolis, besides drew wide attraction for posting videos from enforcement actions connected societal media. Footage of Bovino walking done protests successful a agelong military-style overgarment portion directing officers prompted criticism, with immoderate commentators likening the imagery to fascist aesthetics.

Why is determination renewed attraction connected ICE?

Following the unrest successful Minneapolis, Bovino was reassigned, and information shows determination was a impermanent slowdown successful arrests. According to the Deportation Data Project, regular ICE arrests fell to astir 1,057 successful February.

But that diminution proved short-lived, with ICE arresting astir 10,000 radical during a five-day play astatine the extremity of June, according to The New York Times, oregon astir 2,000 per day. At the aforesaid time, the fig of radical held successful ICE detention facilities climbed to astir 39,000 during June, The Associated Press reported.

As migration arrests proceed to emergence and the fig of deaths involving ICE grows, respective 100 demonstrators gathered successful Biddeford connected Monday evening carrying anti-ICE signs and calling for the bureau to beryllium abolished.

These demonstrations besides travel conscionable days aft different fatal ICE shooting. On July 7, an ICE serviceman changeable and killed 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo of Houston, aft national agents successful unmarked vehicles pursued him portion helium was driving members of his operation unit to a occupation site. Araujo did not person ineligible support to unrecorded successful the US astatine the clip of his killing, but had applied for residency. He had nary transgression record.

How galore radical person died during caller migration enforcement operations?

The Maine shooting is astatine slightest the ninth decease linked to national migration enforcement since Trump intensified his migration crackdown, though not each decease occurred during an ICE operation.

In 1 case, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents changeable dormant a antheral who opened occurrence connected a Border Patrol installation successful Texas. In another, an off-duty ICE serviceman fatally changeable a antheral successful California.

Among the highest-profile incidents were the deaths of US citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good successful Minnesota earlier this year. Good, who was unarmed, was changeable portion driving her car during an migration enforcement operation. Federal officials said she had “weaponised” her conveyance by driving it towards officers – an mentation that has featured successful a fig of caller fatal shootings involving migration agents.

The Wall Street Journal identified much than a twelve incidents betwixt July 2025 and January 2026 successful which national migration officers fired astatine radical wrong vehicles.

Other caller deaths include:

• Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Mexican enactment cook, who was changeable dormant by an migration cause during a postulation halt extracurricular Chicago aft dropping a kid astatine daycare.
• In March 2025, ICE agents fatally changeable 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez, a US citizen, portion helium was driving his car.
• Jaime Alanis, a 57-year-old Mexican farmworker, died aft falling astir 9 metres (30 feet) from the extortion of a greenhouse during migration raids connected 2 cannabis farms successful Southern California, wherever astir 200 workers were arrested.
• A 52-year-old Guatemalan man, Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, was struck and killed by an SUV portion attempting to transverse a Southern California freeway during an migration enforcement operation.
• Josue Castro Rivera, a 24-year-old Honduran man, was deed and killed by a pick-up motortruck portion crossing a road during an migration postulation halt successful Norfolk, Virginia.

What astir deaths successful ICE detention?

Last month, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights reported that 52 radical had besides died successful ICE custody during the archetypal 500 days of Trump’s 2nd administration.

The organisations said the mortality complaint wrong ICE detention is present astatine its highest level successful much than a decade.

According to the report, the complaint is astir 4 times higher than during the Biden medication and much than two-and-a-half times higher than during Trump’s archetypal term.

The figures person besides fuelled renewed disapproval of conditions wrong migration detention facilities and prompted calls for greater oversight.

Last month, the bureau ended a argumentation introduced nether the Biden medication requiring it to notify Congress and analyse the deaths of detainees occurring wrong 30 days of their merchandise from custody.

Rights groups accidental that detainees often dice aft being transferred from ICE detention centres to hospitals, wherever they are taken lone aft their wellness has importantly deteriorated.