Trump border czar says ICE officer in Maine killing should not have passed vetting

Tom Homan, the Trump administration's “border czar,” said on Sunday that he believes the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer at the center of a recent fatal shooting in Maine “should not have ever cleared vetting.”

Speaking on CNN's State of the Union, Homan was asked by host Dana Bash about the officer's eligibility to serve following reports that two of his ex-wives had accused him of abuse. “If those are facts … I don't think he should have ever cleared vetting,” Homan replied.

The shooting occurred on July 13 in Biddeford, Maine, where the ICE officer killed Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian man. News outlets have identified the officer as David Brouillette. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, has not publicly confirmed Brouillette's identity.

Since the shooting, two of Brouillette's ex-wives have publicly described alleged abuse during their relationships with him. One, Lucinda Brouillette, alleged her ex-husband engaged in a “persistent pattern of abuse, intimidation, manipulation, fear and control.”

Homan declined to comment directly on this particular case, describing it as “a rare instance,” but said: “If this person had that type of history, it would have been a vetting issue, and it should have been brought to the attention of those who make those decisions.” He added that an investigation is underway to determine how the vetting process may have failed.

The shooting has prompted renewed scrutiny of ICE's hiring practices. Democrats have called for reviews of the agency's vetting process. For example, Mississippi congressman Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the US House homeland security committee, said that Brouillette's alleged abusive past “directly call[s] into question the supposed vetting and training ICE does of its recruits.”

Additionally, another fatal shooting involving an ICE officer in Texas earlier in July resulted in the killing of Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. In that case, the Harris County district attorney said lab results of a white substance found in a van tested negative for narcotics, despite an FBI warrant application that suggested it was methamphetamine. Salgado's family said the substance was a salt mixture used by his construction crew for hydration.

In response to the shootings, Homan announced that ICE officers will be required to wear body cameras during vehicle stops.