Following tragic killings in Maine and Texas last week, Senators call for reforms, body-worn camera deployment, and independent investigations
Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) Monday joined U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) and 37 Senators in calling for stronger accountability measures for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers following tragic killings involving immigration officials last week in Maine and Texas. The fatal shootings of Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas occurred six days apart.
In their letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin, 39 Senators urged DHS to fulfill its previous commitments to deploy and expand the usage of body-worn cameras, strengthen officer identification requirements, and review enforcement protocols. The measures suggested by the Senators are intended to help prevent future deadly encounters involving ICE enforcement officers.
“The recent fatal shootings involving U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers, specifically within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in Biddeford, Maine, and Houston, Texas, coupled with similar incidents elsewhere in the country, are completely unacceptable,” the Senators wrote. “Rather than making our communities safer, these actions endanger our citizens and seriously undermine confidence in law enforcement generally.”
“The tragic deaths of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero occurred less than a week apart and carry startling similarities. In both incidents, the individuals were killed in enforcement actions in which they were not the intended targets. Furthermore, both individuals were shot by DHS officials while inside a vehicle. The unnecessary loss of life in these incidents demands immediate, thorough, independent, and transparent investigations (including the full involvement of local and state law enforcement personnel) along with a comprehensive examination of enforcement protocols, training, and operational approaches necessary to prevent such tragedies,” the Senators continued. “These recent events have further compromised the credibility of DHS and fractured public trust within communities across our country. In each case, DHS quickly issued statements asserting that officers were acting in self-defense, even before evidence of the facts surrounding the incidents had been gathered. Compounding this failure, no DHS officials involved in these fatal shootings wore body-worn cameras that could be reviewed by investigators or members of the public.”
“We remain supportive of removing dangerous convicted criminals from our communities, but this goal can and must be achieved without endangering these very communities in the process. By no stretch could either of the victims in Texas and Maine be characterized as ‘the worst of the worst,’ making these tragic deaths even more egregious. The American people deserve clarity and accountability. We urge you to honor your Department’s earlier commitments and take immediate action to implement these necessary reforms. We also stand ready to work with you to codify reforms into law,” the Senators concluded.
In addition to Senators King and Welch, the letter is cosigned by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and John Fetterman (D-Pa).
Read and download the full text of Senators’ letter to DHS Secretary Mullin.
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