An immigration officer shot and killed a driver in Maine on Monday, the second time in a week that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have used deadly force.
Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent, said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the agent opened fire after the man tried to use his car as a weapon against troopers chasing him to be deported from Biddeford, a coastal town of about 23,000 people.
“He was in the car – he was pulled out of the car, the word used by the secretary is that he 'armed' the car and he was shot by an ICE agent,” said King.
Corey Poulin, whose family runs a laundromat near the scene, told The Associated Press that security cameras at the business captured the man's car rolling into the intersection after the shooting. Other photos from the scene show the car spinning around with bullet holes in the windshield.
“Two ICE members ran into the intersection and another ICE member in a Ford SUV entered the intersection to prevent the vehicle from rolling over,” he said. “I don't know the truth, but I don't believe he was still alive when the car rolled over.”
He said the Maine State Police asked not to release the image publicly.
ICE and the Maine Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The man was 26 years old, the country of Colombia: lawyers
The agents had body-worn cameras, King said. The FBI is leading the investigation. Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, said state police are working with the state attorney general's office, the medical examiner's office and federal officials to determine what happened.
“The question is what did he do with his car,” said Nkosi. “Were the police being threatened? Were the threats rising to a level worthy of killing people?
“That is what this investigation is all about and I am determined to stand behind it, to do everything I can to ensure that the investigation is as transparent and thorough as possible.”
The man who was killed was a 26-year-old Colombian national who was authorized to work in the US and had a Social Security number, according to a joint statement from the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition and Presente!
After the incident, the man's family contacted the Immigrants' Rights Coalition by phone, according to Mufalo Chitam, the organization's executive officer.
“It's a small family and he was going out to work,” Chitam told the Associated Press.
The family is not yet ready to identify the man or speak publicly about the shooting, Chitam added.
“We are sad, we are angry, and we will not allow his death to be taken for granted or inevitable,” Chitam said. “How much danger must be faced by our communities before those with the power to act will admit that this has gone too far?”
Protesters gathered near the scene
Dozens of anti-ICE protesters gathered in Biddeford within hours of the shooting.
Amy Goodman, from nearby Wells, arrived with a sign saying “Stop Killing Us” and pointed it at the police working at the scene.
“Sadly, it's something we're seeing a lot of lately, and it makes me angry,” said Goodman, who was wearing an “ICE is best when crushed” shirt.
“It's sad and I wanted to come forward,” said Goodman's friend, Molly Zucker of Cape Neddick, holding a sign that read, “No one is illegal.”
Police blocked off access to the scene, which is located in a densely populated area with many families, churches and businesses near the city. Several protesters stood nearby, some holding signs denouncing ICE's presence in the community and state.
Recent increases in immigration detention
The fatal shooting in Maine was at least the ninth fatality of an immigrant since the start of the Trump administration's immigration campaign and the second in less than a week, following the killing of a Houston man.
The reported firing comes amid a renewed push by the Trump administration to implement its mass deportation agenda.
During a five-day period at the end of June, ICE arrested more than 10,000 people. These statistics indicate that although the authorities no longer strike in individual cities, arrests continue and are increasing.
“More than anything else, I want to know, 'Why are you in Maine?'” Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree said in a video posted on social media.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat running for Senate, wrote in X: “It's time to get ICE off our streets.”
Previous ICE presence in Maine
ICE had a significant presence in Maine earlier this year, leading to several large protests against the agency.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, dubbed the operation “Catch of the Day,” an obvious play on Maine's seafood industry, as it has done for other enforcement agencies.
Immigration officials said in late January they had stopped “enhancing operations” in Maine after hundreds of arrests.
A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety said at the time that others in Maine were arrested for people “convicted of heinous crimes including aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of a child.”
But court records paint a slightly different story: While some had criminal convictions, others were inmates with pending immigration proceedings or who were arrested but never convicted.
ICE arrested 546 people in Maine between the start of US President Donald Trump's second term and March 11, 2026, the latest data available, according to ICE arrest data provided by the UC Berkeley Deportation Data Project and analyzed by the Associated Press.
About 45 percent of those arrested have criminal backgrounds.
During the same period of 416 days before Trump took office, about 69 percent of those arrested had criminal backgrounds, the data report said.
The Trump administration's immigration crackdown drew widespread condemnation last winter after the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota. Last week, a police officer shot and killed Salgado Araujo, 52, of Houston, after he was chased by federal agents driving unmarked vehicles while taking his construction workers to their latest job site.
