Press ReleaseBipartisan2026-08-17

Pingree, Homeland Democrats Host Hearing on ICE’s Deadly Use of Force in Biddeford

Immigration

Context

This press release from Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) was published on 2026-08-17 and titled "Pingree, Homeland Democrats Host Hearing on ICE’s Deadly Use of Force in Biddeford".

Full Text

Pingree, Homeland Democrats Host Hearing on ICE’s Deadly Use of Force in Biddeford

Today, U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.), a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, hosted a Democratic shadow hearing examining Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) use of force and abuse of power following the tragic killing of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford. The hearing, titled “ Seeking Justice in Biddeford: Oversight of ICE’s Use of Force in the Death of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero ,” brought Members of Congress to Maine to hear directly from the Durán Guerrero family’s legal representation, local officials, and immigrant rights advocates about the investigation, the need for accountability, and the effects of ICE operations on communities across the state. Click here to watch the full hearing. “Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero should be alive today. His family deserves answers, and the people of Biddeford deserve to know how an ICE operation in their community ended in an innocent man’s death. Today’s testimony laid bare the devastating human cost of allowing ICE to operate with impunity in our communities and underscored the urgent need for transparency and accountability,” said Pingree. “As demonstrated today by their absence and utter ambivalence to the terror ICE is inflicting across the country, Republicans refuse to hold this Administration accountable for the atrocities committed using Americans’ tax dollars. My Democratic colleagues and I will keep fighting for the truth, for justice for Johan and his loved ones, and for safeguards to ensure no other family has to endure a tragedy like this.” “Today’s hearing made clear that the Durán family deserves accountability and justice for Johan’s Sebastian’s death. ICE cannot continue using reckless and deadly force without consequence,” said Ranking Member Thompson. “Congress must hold this agency accountable before another family is forced to endure this kind of tragedy.” "While Republicans continue to fund, greenlight, and cover up for ICE, Democrats are shining a light on the truth. And the truth is these are not protectors. This is a masked, secret police force that has terrorized children, trampled on our Constitution, and wielded violence as a political weapon,” said Democratic Whip Katherine Clark. “We will continue fighting to secure justice for Johan, for his family, and for every American who has been targeted by this unhinged administration." "We must hold the line against the Trump administration's reckless, unaccountable immigration enforcement. The killing of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero is not an isolated incident. It fits a pattern of ICE agents operating with impunity in communities across the country, from Louisiana to Maine. Democrats are stepping up when Republicans in Congress have failed to act, demanding the transparency and accountability that ICE and the Trump administration have refused to provide. The rule of law must still mean something in America, and that means no person, whether a mother detained without warning, a student punished for speaking out, or a man killed by the very agents meant to protect and serve, should be denied justice. Congress has a constitutional duty to conduct oversight, and we intend to fulfill it until ICE is held accountable," said Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (LA-02). Witnesses included Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain; Ben Gideon, legal representative for the Durán Guerrero family; Sue Roche, Executive Director of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project; Mufalo Chitam, Executive Director of the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition; and Crystal Cron, Executive Director of Presente! Maine. “A federal force came into my city, exercised one of the most extraordinary powers the government possesses—the use of deadly force—and left the consequences for Johan's family and our small community to carry,” said Mayor Liam LaFountain. “An arrest can be challenged. A removal order can be reviewed. A death, however, cannot be reversed—not by Congress, not by a court, not by this Committee. That is why the safeguards around deadly force should be the strongest we have. And yet in Biddeford on the morning of July 13, they were the weakest.Biddeford is a city of 23,000 people. We were left to absorb the aftermath of that federal law-enforcement operation without federal support.” “[...] What happened in Biddeford, Maine, in the early morning hours of July 13, was the result of intentional policies and decisions—at the highest levels of our government-that treat the killing of innocent people as acceptable collateral damage,” said Gideon. “We know it's not an unintended, random occurrence, because it keeps happening, over and over again, in Minnesota, and Houston, and now in Biddeford. We know it's not an unintended, random occurrence because there is no remorse, no apology or even the slightest concern shown to tho

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Pingree, Homeland Democrats Host Hearing on ICE’s Deadly Use of Force in Biddeford Today, U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.), a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, hosted a Democratic shadow hearing examining Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) use of force and abuse of power following the tragic killing of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford. The hearing, titled “ Seeking Justice in Biddeford: Oversight of ICE’s Use of Force in the Death of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero ,” brought Members of Congress to Maine to hear directly from the Durán Guerrero family’s legal representation, local officials, and immigrant rights advocates about the investigation, the need for accountability, and the effects of ICE operations on communities across the state. Click here to watch the full hearing. “Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero should be alive today. His family deserves answers, and the people of Biddeford deserve to know how an ICE operation in their community ended in an innocent man’s death. Today’s testimony laid bare the devastating human cost of allowing ICE to operate with impunity in our communities and underscored the urgent need for transparency and accountability,” said Pingree. “As demonstrated today by their absence and utter ambivalence to the terror ICE is inflicting across the country, Republicans refuse to hold this Administration accountable for the atrocities committed using Americans’ tax dollars. My Democratic colleagues and I will keep fighting for the truth, for justice for Johan and his loved ones, and for safeguards to ensure no other family has to endure a tragedy like this.” “Today’s hearing made clear that the Durán family deserves accountability and justice for Johan’s Sebastian’s death. ICE cannot continue using reckless and deadly force without consequence,” said Ranking Member Thompson. “Congress must hold this agency accountable before another family is forced to endure this kind of tragedy.” "While Republicans continue to fund, greenlight, and cover up for ICE, Democrats are shining a light on the truth. And the truth is these are not protectors. This is a masked, secret police force that has terrorized children, trampled on our Constitution, and wielded violence as a political weapon,” said Democratic Whip Katherine Clark. “We will continue fighting to secure justice for Johan, for his family, and for every American who has been targeted by this unhinged administration." "We must hold the line against the Trump administration's reckless, unaccountable immigration enforcement. The killing of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero is not an isolated incident. It fits a pattern of ICE agents operating with impunity in communities across the country, from Louisiana to Maine. Democrats are stepping up when Republicans in Congress have failed to act, demanding the transparency and accountability that ICE and the Trump administration have refused to provide. The rule of law must still mean something in America, and that means no person, whether a mother detained without warning, a student punished for speaking out, or a man killed by the very agents meant to protect and serve, should be denied justice. Congress has a constitutional duty to conduct oversight, and we intend to fulfill it until ICE is held accountable," said Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (LA-02). Witnesses included Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain; Ben Gideon, legal representative for the Durán Guerrero family; Sue Roche, Executive Director of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project; Mufalo Chitam, Executive Director of the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition; and Crystal Cron, Executive Director of Presente! Maine. “A federal force came into my city, exercised one of the most extraordinary powers the government possesses—the use of deadly force—and left the consequences for Johan's family and our small community to carry,” said Mayor Liam LaFountain. “An arrest can be challenged. A removal order can be reviewed. A death, however, cannot be reversed—not by Congress, not by a court, not by this Committee. That is why the safeguards around deadly force should be the strongest we have. And yet in Biddeford on the morning of July 13, they were the weakest.Biddeford is a city of 23,000 people. We were left to absorb the aftermath of that federal law-enforcement operation without federal support.” “[...] What happened in Biddeford, Maine, in the early morning hours of July 13, was the result of intentional policies and decisions—at the highest levels of our government-that treat the killing of innocent people as acceptable collateral damage,” said Gideon. “We know it's not an unintended, random occurrence, because it keeps happening, over and over again, in Minnesota, and Houston, and now in Biddeford. We know it's not an unintended, random occurrence because there is no remorse, no apology or even the slightest concern shown to tho