The federal agency did not confirm Guerrero’s work status, and has not shared any more details about his encounter with federal agents.

“To be clear, work authorization does NOT confer legal status in the United States,” the spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.

His death is the third in one week involving encounters with ICE agents. A Colombian national was shot and killed in Biddeford on Monday, renewing widespread protests over the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement efforts.

Trump’s post is the first public statement he’s made regarding Monday’s shooting. He lauded the work of ICE agents and said traffic stops are the agency’s “most important and effective Crime Fighting tools.”

Border czar Tom Homan confirmed to reporters Tuesday that the agency has decided to pause vehicle stops in a “necessary, short-term” policy change to assess officer safety and “make sure everything’s good.”

Homan’s remarks, recorded on C-SPAN, followed reports that ICE agents were being instructed to work with local law enforcement to make traffic stops. This temporary policy change came just one day after the deadly shooting in Biddeford, and a week after a similar incident in Houston.

Their call came hours after all four members of Maine’s congressional delegation sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, asking for an expedited independent review of the killing.

“The fact that ICE is swimming in billions of taxpayer dollars and can’t perform a basic function like properly equipping its people is a severe indictment,” LaFountain said in the release. “Corrective action is required immediately, as both Senator Collins and Senator King have made clear.”

“I always train the vehicle stops in Border Patrol and it’s pretty similar: When do you stop a car, how do you stop a car, how do you approach a car,” he said. “I don’t know the specifics to these agents that are involved, but it’s under investigation, and we’ll find out where the investigation leads.”

Homan acknowledged ICE’s pause on some traffic stops to “make sure everything’s good,” but said it could pose difficulties for ICE agents, such as avoiding densely populated areas when making arrests.

ABC cited multiple unnamed sources “familiar with the situation,” while The Atlantic cited an unnamed “senior administration official.”

“We’re here because we care,” said Nancy, seated on a bench in the park with a protest sign at her feet. “We care about people. Period. It doesn’t matter what their race it. It doesn’t even matter Democrat or Republican. I just don’t think we should be hurting each other.The government shouldn’t be given permission to hurt its own people.”

The gathering was held a day after Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old man from Colombia, was shot and killed in Biddeford by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Roger Lagrange had brought a sign of his own, one that said: “No wars on our streets. Get ICE out.”

There were a lot of signs bearing similar messages as more and more people showed up for the vigil, organized by the Maine People’s Alliance, along with Safiya Khalid and the Rev. Jodi Hayashida. By 6 p.m. about 100 people had gathered at the park. 

Hoffman-Johnson emphasized the he is “not an expert on any of this. None of us are,” but believes the sport “is a unifying force, that transcends borders, languages, and backgrounds.”

“When we do come together, we see ourselves in others, and the collective power of our humanity grows stronger,” he said. “That is what this game is all about. That is what this club is all about.”

“While it is clear ICE needs to improve its performance, it is important to remember that the work ICE does to protect our country goes far beyond immigration enforcement,” Collins said. “ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is tasked with combating cartels, human smuggling, child exploitation, forced labor and more. Eliminating ICE would make our country less safe and endanger the lives and welfare of countless individuals.”

She reiterated she voted for $20 million in an April spending package that is meant to expand the use of body cameras among ICE agents but sought to blame Democrats for government funding impasses in the Republican-controlled Congress earlier this year that she said “delayed” the implementation of the new measures.

However, after ICE agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota in January, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the Trump administration would seek to “rapidly acquire and deploy” body cameras nationwide as funding became available. ICE officers in Biddeford and in Texas, where an agent shot and killed a Mexican man last week, were not wearing body cameras during those recent fatal incidents, officials have said. A Homeland Security official said last week that body cameras have made it to more than half of ICE field offices around the U.S. and that the remainder will get them in the next 60 days. 

In an interview with WGAN, Grohman — who served as mayor from 2023 to 2025, asked community members to “help each other out” in the wake of Monday morning’s shooting.

“We’ve been through hard things before,” he said. “We pull together. We look out for each other.”

“They killed him for believing him to be an inferior being without rights, and as a person, he had all the rights conferred on a human being simply for being born, and he was a citizen with rights in the U.S.,” he wrote, referring to Johan Sebastián Guerrero.

Mercedes Osma-Peralta, a spokesperson for the embassy, declined to share further information about Guerrero, including how long he has been in the country.

Guerrero, 26, was authorized to work in the United States, according to Presente! Maine, and had been issued a Social Security number.

“He was a member of our community, a neighbor, and a human being whose life was cut tragically short,” the organization said in a statement.

Guerrero’s father, Omar Durán, told the Spanish-language news outlet Telemundo that his son was a loving, hard-working father who moved to the U.S. to build a future for his family and often rose early to start work.

“He was a wonderful son, and I don’t know why they did that to him,” Durán said in Spanish. “I don’t know why they did that to him. I just don’t know.”

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As Bodnar tried to move into the crowd, protesters wearing orange vests and acting as safety marshals tried to escort him away. In response, Bodnar said, “I have a right to be here” and refused to leave.

The crowd started singing “We Shall Overcome,” and Bodnar began walking in the crowd, getting in people’s faces and shoving them.

Organizers instructed protesters to walk up and down the street around the facility in an effort to ease the density of the crowd.

One of the lead organizers polled the crowd on whether they wanted to remain or leave, and most of the attendees said they wanted to stay.

Bodnar mocked the crowd, at one point shouting a slur, and as Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson took the microphone to address the crowd, Bodnar shouted at him, calling him a “fascist socialist pig” and said he was not a real Mainer.

The crowd remained for another 10 to 15 minutes, and then began to leave.

“Whether you witnessed the incident, know someone involved, work nearby, or are simply feeling the weight of what happened, it’s important to know that support is available,” said the statement from the city.

On Tuesday evening, support sessions will be offered from 6 to 9 p.m. at the J. Richard Martin Community Center. Sessions on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. will be held at The Reach, another community center in downtown Biddeford.

No appointment is necessary for a session, said the city. Residents can reach out to Biddeford’s general assistance office at 207-284-9514 for additional resources and referrals.

“Healing looks different for everyone, and there are many ways to respond after a traumatic event. Reaching out for support is a sign of strength, and we encourage anyone who feels they could benefit to take advantage of these services,” said the city’s statement.

“In June, our Bureau of Motor Vehicles denied confidential license plates to ICE based on this use,” she said.

The BMV, under the direction of Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, first stopped issuing the undercover plates to ICE and Border Patrol in January ahead of the immigration enforcement surge federal officials called “Operation Catch of the Day.”

The event is a weekly protest by Indivisible Maine, which usually sees around 25 participants. The crowd on Tuesday included more young people and new protesters, organizer Elizabeth Leonard said.

“This is exactly what we’ve been saying is going to happen here, and now it’s happened in Biddeford,” Leonard said. “Maine is a state that’s really like a small town … it feels like it’s our town”

Protesters held signs featuring names of people who died in ICE custody or at the hands or ICE agents since January 2025.

An ICE spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that the agency is “always evaluating our procedures to keep our officers safe and criminals off our streets,” but declined to further discuss its tactics.

Maine officials said an agent with Enforcement and Removal Operations fatally shot a 26-year-old Colombian man, Johan Sebastián Guerrero, in Biddeford on Monday morning while he was inside his vehicle. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin initially said the man “weaponized” his vehicle toward agents and that a warrant had been out for his arrest, but Mullin and his department said later Monday afternoon that Guerrero, whom advocates said was authorized to work in the U.S., was not the target of the ICE operation in Biddeford.

The case echoes last week’s case out of Texas in which an ICE agent fatally shot a Mexican man in Houston who was reportedly not the individual agents were seeking that day.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a statement late Tuesday morning that she spoke with Mullin on Monday night and “urged him to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops.” Collins said while the investigation into the Biddeford shooting is ongoing, it “raises sufficient critical questions” that she spoke with Mullin about. Her office did not elaborate nor immediately respond to a question about what Mullin told Collins in response. 

The coalition of immigrant groups and organizers behind the protest have demanded an end Immigration and Customs Enforcement violence and for ICE to get out of Maine. More than 20 action groups across the state signed onto the demands, including removing all federal immigration officers from the state and releasing people taken from Maine. 

The protest at Scarborough’s ICE facility occurred a day after Johan Sebastián Guerrero, a 26-year-old from Colombia, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Biddeford on Monday. 

One protester burned sage in the crowd.

“It’s medicine for the people here,” they said.

Zack Zuber hoisted a sign over his head. On white poster board, “leave Maine now” was scrawled in blue Sharpie.

“I want ICE out of our state,” he said.

Golden said it was unfortunate that, per officials, ICE officers at the scene of Monday’s fatal shooting were not wearing body cameras, adding he supported ICE body camera adoption earlier this year but that “adoption has been slow.” Though he has been known to vote with Republicans at times, Golden opposed in June the nearly $70 billion budget bill from Republicans that funds ICE and Customs and Border Protection for the next three years and argued the agencies are “already able to cover their costs well into the future.”

“DHS needs to make this a priority,” Golden said of body camera adoption. “Mainers are understandably scared and shocked by this painful loss of life. My heart goes out to all those who are hurting, and I urge Mainers to take care of one another and stay safe.”

“Having ICE in Maine and specifically in Scarborough puts us all in danger,” she said. “They’re targeting our friends and neighbors.”

She had the idea for this petition last week, before Johan Sebastián Guerrero, a 26-year-old from Colombia, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Biddeford shortly after 7 a.m. on Monday.

Per Scarborough’s charter, a petition to change or enact an ordinance must have 25% of the number of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election to be put on a ballot.

She said the group stands with everyone who has been affected by this “alarming state violence.”

“ICE must stand down,” Phinney said. “We call for a full and transparent investigation. We protest this latest violence, and we call on all who join in protesting to do so peacefully.”

“This isn’t Maine. This isn’t the United States that I know,” Jackson said. “It’s not going to stop unless we do come together.”

The city square has been the site of several ICE protests, including massive demonstrations during the surge in January.

The vigil closed out with a group song led by Singing Resistance Portland Maine. 

The crowd began marching slowly up Sullivan Street, singing, “Our love is stronger than the fear,” about 10 minutes into the gathering, with local police blocking off traffic.

A number of anti-ICE protesters made their way to that corner and shouting matches erupted. A handful of Biddeford police officers intervened, separating the groups.

As across-the-road shouting continued between some, the vast majority of anti-ICE protesters circled the park’s gazebo for the vigil, which kicked off with songs promptly at 7 p.m.

The agency said a man, who they described as an “illegal alien,” left the residence in a vehicle. When the driver “attempted to flee the scene,” a federal officer discharged his weapon, ICE said.

“The driver of the vehicle was struck, and emergency services were immediately contacted. He passed away from his injuries,” the ICE spokesperson said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear whether the man killed was the subject of ICE’s targeted enforcement. Sen. Angus King said the man was not the intended target of ICE’s arrest warrant.

According to ICE,  the shooting will be investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.

“This is a developing situation, and we will update the public when more information is available,” the federal agency said.