Democratic members of the US Congress are scrutinizing the training and background check of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who killed a Colombian migrant in Maine in July. According to a letter obtained by CBS News, California Representative Robert Garcia and Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal sent the request to officials at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC), which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, asking for the agent's records to be shared.
The letter raised a series of questions about the training and hiring process of the agent who shot and killed 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, on July 13. The Associated Press (AP) reported that the agent is David Brouillette and that his relatives alleged he had mental health problems and exhibited violent behavior.
Shortened training program under scrutiny
Garcia and Blumenthal asked whether Brouillette took part in a shortened training program launched under former President Donald Trump's administration that aimed to add thousands of new agents to the deportation force. The letter also questioned whether the agent was deployed after just a four-week online course and whether he underwent a pre-hire background check.
The Democratic lawmakers noted that a former ICE instructor who testified earlier this year described the training procedures under the Trump administration as "inadequate, flawed, and broken." The letter stated, "The inherent dangers of unleashing untrained and unqualified officers and agents onto the streets demand oversight, accountability, and reform."
Similar case in Houston and pause in traffic stops
Less than a week before Durán Guerrero was killed, Mexican migrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was also shot and killed by an ICE agent during a traffic stop in Houston. ICE claimed that Salgado Araujo used his van as a weapon and that the agent fired in self-defense. However, other people in the vehicle gave statements that contradict this account.
The Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged that the migrants killed in both incidents were not the targets of the ICE operations. Following the killings, ICE briefly suspended vehicle stops, but the decision was reversed after Trump intervened.
Trump's border czar comments
When asked about reports on Brouillette's background during a CNN appearance, Trump's Border Czar Tom Homan said, "If the reports are accurate, this individual should never have passed a background check."
CBS News requested comment from the Department of Homeland Security regarding the letter from Garcia and Blumenthal. The department has not officially released the name of the agent who killed Durán Guerrero. In a statement about the incident, it said the vehicle tried to flee the scene and the agent fired his weapon out of concern for public safety.
