WASHINGTON — President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan announced Sunday that an internal review is underway into how an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer involved in a fatal Maine shooting was cleared for duty, after family members revealed to The Associated Press that the officer had a documented history of serious mental health problems and violent behavior.
Homan stated that if the allegations against the officer prove to be accurate, “I don’t think he should ever have cleared vetting.”
Speaking on CNN, Homan addressed the officer, identified as Army veteran David Brouillette, saying, “There’s several things under review. The training is under review. I know this specific case, as far as the vetting, is under review by the internal affairs section.”
The Maine shooting, along with a separate fatal shooting of an immigrant in Houston, has brought intense scrutiny to the Department of Homeland Security’s aggressive push to hire, train, and deploy thousands of new ICE officers as part of Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign.
Following the Maine shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin ordered a temporary halt to vehicle stops by ICE officers. However, President Trump quickly reversed that decision, directing that such stops continue as a critical part of his effort to identify and deport individuals living in the country without legal status.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond Sunday to requests for comment regarding the internal review.
Homan noted that “changes have been made,” adding that acting ICE Director David Venturella has issued a new directive requiring body-worn cameras to be active during any vehicle stop conducted by officers.
“Right now, on all vehicle stops, there’s at least one body camera on site to record the entire event,” Homan said.
He added that Venturella “sent an instruction out that he wants at least one body camera on those vehicle stops, so we have everything on video.”
Whether these measures will be enough to ease the concerns of lawmakers remains to be seen. Members of Congress from both political parties have raised questions about the training and tactics being used by Homeland Security as it works toward Trump’s large-scale deportation objectives.
During a closed-door briefing for the House Homeland Security Committee last week, Democratic lawmakers pressed ICE officials for answers but left with lingering questions. Lawmakers were informed during the session that 56 complaints of excessive force have been filed against ICE officers — 32 were cleared, and one was referred for potential disciplinary action. No discipline had actually been handed down yet, lawmakers said they were told, with the remaining complaints still under investigation.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, has been a vocal advocate for the use of body-worn cameras and helped secure funding for the effort. She previously described it as “extremely unfortunate” that the officer involved in the Maine shooting had not been wearing a camera.
The Trump administration has so far fallen short of its stated goal of deporting one million people per year, despite a sweeping immigration enforcement effort that has produced confrontational scenes in cities across the country. At least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration officers since the mass deportation campaign began.
While the administration has maintained that it is focused on apprehending the most dangerous individuals, the outcomes have not always reflected that, and American citizens have been among those who have died.
The ICE officer shot 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian national, inside his car near his home in the coastal city of Biddeford, Maine.
In Houston, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was fatally shot on July 7 after ICE officers pursued his white work van through city streets and fired through the window, with his brother and other crew members watching.
Earlier this year, two Americans — Renee Good and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse — were killed while protesting ICE operations in Minneapolis, triggering a widespread public backlash.
Democrats earlier this year triggered the longest agency shutdown in history by refusing to approve funding for Homeland Security in an effort, largely unsuccessful, to force the administration to place restrictions on its immigration officers.
